Poison
by Cat2000
Summary: The sequel to Roses and Thorns. One of Lothor’s aliens injects people around Blue Bay Harbour with a toxin which causes people to fall horribly ill, and there is no sign of a cure. When half of the Power Rangers are poisoned as well, it falls to the remai
1. Chapter One

**Poison**

**Chapter One**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from Power Rangers, Ninja Storm, and I'm not making any money from this fic. I also do not own Bruce Almighty (though my dad has it on DVD)

**Summary:** The sequel to Roses and Thorns. One of Lothor's aliens injects people around Blue Bay Harbour with a toxin which causes people to fall horribly ill, and there is no sign of a cure. When half of the Power Rangers are poisoned as well, it falls to the remaining ones to find a cure as well as hold off Lothor's monsters, despite the fact that none of them has a full team. (All wind rangers, all thunder rangers, etc.) As well as that, Cam is having weird dreams, and Hunter and Lila are finding their 'friends only' rule hard to keep to

**Author's Note:** Like I said... This is the sequel to Roses and Thorns. If you didn't like that, then you _won't_ like this. CamFan4Ever, I've changed what I've told you slightly. I'm sure you'll see where.

I have _not_ had a good day today --. I had to wait three hours for a coach, and I had loads of pigeons flying really close over my head (close enough to _touch_!) I need cheering up

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Dustin slid his arm over Cally's shoulders, a little hesitatingly. The violet light ranger seemed to be so engrossed in the movie they were watching that she didn't even seem to notice. Which was just as well, really.

For the past couple of weeks, Dustin and Cally had been tiptoeing around each other. The yellow wind ranger _wanted_ to start over, but it was difficult. Whenever he was with Cally, he couldn't get the image of her kissing someone else behind his back out of his head.

Oh, Dustin _knew_ that Cally was sorry for it. He thought that he'd forgiven her for betraying him like that as well, but he just couldn't push it out of his mind.

Now, though, it wasn't bothering him so much. During their apparent _dates_, Dustin had kept Cally at arm's length, finding it difficult to touch her, to be close to her. To think of her as his 'girlfriend' again, even though that was technically what she was.

It was getting easier now, though. Dustin would probably never forget what Cally had done, but he was able to push it to the back of his mind more, and just think about what he was doing with Cally.

_Cally is my girlfriend._

Dustin hadn't been able to even _imagine_ the words, let alone say them out loud. As if sensing his feelings, Cally had never referred to him as her boyfriend. But their friends all knew what they meant when they said they were spending time with each other.

With the Power Rangers as many as they were, though, there were actually quite a number of hostilities in the group. Never ones which really blew out of control, or put any of their missions in danger, but you knew they were there all the same.

Dustin and Cally were watching _Bruce Almighty_ together. They were at Cally's house, as her parents weren't around, having been captured by Lothor, and the other two occupants of the house, David and Faye, were out together.

Dustin laughed a little as Bruce, on the television, made his own words appear on the prompt screen for his rival, Evan, to read, and made his voice go all funny. Personally, Dustin thought that that would be a cool ability to have. Great way to get back at people who had been mean to you.

"You know, Lothor's been pretty quiet lately," Dustin commented after a few more moments.

"Uh-uh," Cally responded, a sound which could mean absolutely anything.

"I mean, he's probably planning something really big to leave us alone for _this_ long," Dustin continued.

For some reason, Dustin and Cally _always_ ended up talking about Lothor. One or the other would bring him up, and they wouldn't talk about anything else.

Apparently not this time, though.

Cally jumped to her feet, her eyes suddenly blazing. "This isn't fair, Dustin! To _either_ of us! You said that we could start over, but that isn't what we're doing! We're just going through the motions here, and _something's_ got to give!"

_She's right,_ Dustin realised. _Something _has_ got to give._

Really, there was only one thing Dustin _could_ do.

The yellow wind ranger pulled the violet light ranger back onto the sofa with him. Wrapping his arms around Cally, Dustin pressed his lips against hers.

This wasn't a gentle kiss. It was a possessive, dominating one. The something was going to give _now_. Dustin was reclaiming Cally. He was pushing away her betrayal, finally able to forgive her properly.

The yellow wind ranger's hands slid under Cally's blouse, gently stroking her back, feeling her arch a little under his touch. His hands found the strap of her bra, and he hesitated over undoing it.

Things probably would have gone a _lot_ further if Faye and David hadn't chosen that precise moment to walk through the front door.

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_Cam opened his eyes, and found himself in a strange garden filled with different kinds of exotic plants which combined together to form a tropical, heady scent which seemed _way_ too real, even though this had to be a dream._

Whoa,_ the green samurai ranger thought to himself. _I must have fallen asleep at the computer again.

_The place Cam was in looked a little bit like the images Cam had seen on the computer screen when Cally had gone into that other world, and the whole deal with the vampires had begun. There _were_ some differences, though. For one thing, Cam couldn't see any unicorns around, and they were apparently the guides in the Forest of Feelings._

"_Cameron?"_

_Hearing the unfamiliar female voice, the green samurai ranger turned round, and his eyes widened._

_There was a young woman standing behind him, and she was clearly not human. She had long dark blue hair, and huge green eyes. Her skin was light blue and furry, and she had pointed ears._

No_ way_ I dreamed something _that_,_ Cam thought._

"_Who are you?" the green samurai ranger asked, frowning slightly._

_The woman gave Cam an odd look. "I'm Lia... Remember?"_

_Cam looked _really_ confused. "I... don't know you, do I?"_

_Lia gave Cam a slightly startled look. "Did you hit your head or something, Cameron? Of _course_ you know me! We are engaged to be married."_

No way!_ Cam protested silently. _This is _obviously_ a dream!

It seems so real, though. More real than _any_ dream I've had before.

It's still only a dream.

_Lia walked over to Cam, and took his arm, looking up at him, her eyes filled with worry and concern. "Cameron, come with me," she said. "It is very bad if you have lost your memory. I will make sure you do not get lost finding the village again." She smiled, but it looked a little strained. "I can understand if you are nervous... I am too. But my friends all tell me that it is a joyous occasion, and that we do not have to be alarmed."_

_Cam now saw, apparently painted on Lia's forehead, a full circle, and he had to wonder, even though it was a dream, if he had one as well, and what it meant if he did. Then, he looked into Lia's eyes, and felt himself drowning in green pools._

And then Cam woke up, and saw what was on his computer screen.

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Dustin pulled back slowly from Cally. Right then, he didn't care about Faye and David watching him hold Cally. But he _did_ object to making out in front of them.

David stood in the doorway of the living room, staring at his sister and his friend. Faye merely pushed past him, and placed her bag on one of the chairs. She then looked at Cally and Dustin, her hands resting lightly on her hips. "Don't you two have a room for that?"

Dustin laughed lightly, and pressed his face into Cally's hair. "We weren't going to _do_ anything."

"What are you watching?" David asked, entering the living room as well. He looked at the television screen. "Bruce Almighty?"

Dustin nodded, releasing Cally. "You guys want to watch the next movie with us?"

Before Faye or David could reply, all of their communicators went off.

"Guys, it's Cam," the voice of the green samurai ranger said, echoing from their communicators. "I need you to come to NinjaOps as soon as possible. It's really important."

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Read and review, please!


	2. Chapter Two

**Poison**

**Chapter Two**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from Power Rangers, Ninja Storm, and I'm not making any money from this fic

**Replies to reviews:**

**SapphireRayne:** Well, it's still difficult for them . And if I didn't put in cliffhangers, would you still want to read the next chapter? If I leave it hanging, at least people would probably be curious enough to read the next chapter. Thanks for reviewing, and I'm glad you liked it

**garnetred:** He has forgiven her, don't worry . Yeah, David and Faye have impeccable timing, don't they? Mind you, considering David's reaction when he and Faye walked in on Cally and Dustin kissing, what do you think would happen if he and Faye walked in on them going even further? -Lol-. Thanks for reviewing

**CamFan4Ever:** I take it that means you're happy that I updated? -Waves finger- Now that _I'm_ updating, you have to as well. I'm still waiting for the next chapter of Finding Your Love II! Anyways, thanks for reviewing

**Jorgitosbabe:** o.o I take it you haven't read Soul Battle... That is _awful_, and quite obviously a Mary Sue -.-. -Still worried about these characters being Mary Sues- Please don't make me think that I have to write everything perfectly. Lol . Thanks for reviewing, and I'm glad you liked it

**BlueAngel07:** Thanks for reviewing, and I'm glad you liked it

**Author's Note:** Before you start reading this chapter, guess what?!

I managed to find pics to go with all of my original characters! (Lia was _really_ difficult -.-). Most of them are based on actors/actresses, with the obvious exception of Lia. If anyone's interested in seeing any of the pics, or knowing the names of the actors, e-mail me, or ask on here. Also, is anyone good at editing pics? Only, I really want to make pictures with the original characters in, but I have no idea how -Pleading look-

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Blake stared at the computer screen, eating a slice of pizza. "Dude, this film is _really_ boring," the navy thunder ranger commented.

"Yeah, I know," Hunter replied, snagging another piece of pizza. "I can't be bothered to change the video, though."

"Hm." Blake yawned. "I'm kind of wondering what Lothor's got up his sleeve next. He's been pretty quiet lately, and that's _never_ a good thing."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Hunter said. "He won't have given up, so he must be planning something really big."

"But we'll beat him, bro," Blake smiled. "After all, _nothing_ can stand against the combined might of _all_ of the Power Rangers."

"Yeah," Hunter responded, not really appreciating the reminder. It made him think of Lila, and he didn't really want to think about the silver silk ranger right then.

Right at that moment, both of their communicators went off.

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All of the Power Rangers gathered in NinjaOps, causing the main room to become quite crowded.

"We _really_ need to find a bigger place to meet," Shane muttered. "We can't all keep on crowding in here like this."

"This is the only place with the technology needed to observe the city," Sensei said.

"He's got a point," David told the red wind ranger.

Cally found her attention drawn to the computer screen, and her eyes widened slightly. She pointed to the huge black snake-like thing shown on the screen. "What is that?"

"One of Lothor's aliens," Cam answered. "I must have fallen asleep at the computer, because when I woke up, that monster was showing on the screen." The green samurai ranger paused, then continued, "I switched over to one of the news channels, and reporters were talking about a strange epidemic which people have been coming down with."

"You think that this new alien of Lothor's might have something to do with it?" Blake asked, frowning slightly.

"Aren't some snakes poisonous?" Peter wondered out loud.

Lila rolled her eyes, and elbowed her brother in the side. "Of _course_ some snakes are poisonous," she said.

Hunter shot a quick glance at the silver silk ranger, then looked away again. Unlike Dustin and Cally, Hunter and Lila weren't dating, or even attempting to. The crimson thunder ranger was still having problems working out just _what_ he felt for Lila. He cared deeply about her, he knew that much, but he didn't know how much he trusted her.

_I guess now I know how the others felt when Blake and I attacked them so much,_ Hunter thought to himself. Not that Lila had _known_ who he was... But that wasn't really the point.

"You want us to go and battle it?" Faye asked.

Before Cam could respond, Sensei answered, "If Lothor's creature _is_ responsible for the epidemic, then you are all likely to be at risk. Your Power Ranger abilities will not necessarily be able to protect you."

"But we _can't_ just leave it to attack people," Tori protested.

Sensei gave the blue wind ranger a _look_. "And what will you do if _you_ all get poisoned as well?" the guinea pig demanded. "Earth would be defenceless against attacks, and that is undoubtedly what Lothor wants."

"I'm working on finding some kind of antidote, or at least a vaccine," Cam put in. "I haven't had much luck yet, but it could well be suicide to rush into a battle unprepared with this alien." The green samurai ranger winced, realising his mistake as both Faye and David looked worriedly at Cally.

"Oh, give me a break," the violet light ranger groaned, rolling her eyes. "You don't have to worry. I'm not going to try to kill myself again."

As Cally spoke, Dustin gently squeezed her cold fingers. The yellow wind ranger knew how badly what had happened had hit Cally. Even though he had found it difficult to forgive her, he still knew what she had gone through.

Cally squeezed back, and shot Dustin a grateful look. She liked having him give her support. Despite the fact that they had resumed dating again, the yellow wind ranger hadn't done so until now.

Tori's eyes dropped to Cally and Dustin's linked hands, and she smiled, glad to see her friend happy again. She hoped that Cally wouldn't hurt the yellow wind ranger a second time. Dustin was _way_ too gentle, and he didn't deserve the sort of pain Cally's betrayal would bring him.

Hunter's eyes tracked towards Lila again. This time, the silver silk ranger looked back at him, though her expression did not change. She had already agreed to give the crimson thunder ranger all the time he needed to work out his feelings.

Hunter looked away again, unwilling to get into a staring match with Lila.

"You all need to keep an eye out," Sensei was saying. "If you find yourself facing this monster, then you _must_ call for the others to help you. Do not try to face it alone. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Sensei."

"I'm going to carry on trying to find out more about this new alien," Cam said. "If, _when_, I find out more, I'll call you guys back here."

Dustin glanced down, realising that he was still holding onto Cally's hand. Then, he looked at David and Faye.

"Are you two planning on going back out this evening?" he asked.

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_Cam came to, and found himself being led by the hand by Lia._

Not again,_ the green samurai ranger groaned silently._

_Lia's grip was gentle but firm, and her hand was warm in Cam's, though that was probably because of her fur. She seemed to know exactly where she was going, which was just as well because Cam had no idea._

_Cam looked around, taking in the lovely woodland around them. A sense of utter peace came over him. He had the feeling he was coming home. It was indescribable. He felt almost as if the very plants themselves were reaching out to welcome him._

_Cam gave himself a mental shake, and decided that, when he woke up, he was going to read up on dreams. He was pretty sure that having continuous dreams wasn't exactly normal._

_Unless, of course, he hadn't really woken up at all, just dreamed it. And there was no snake of Lothor's invading Blue Bay Harbour, and possibly poisoning people._

_Cam was pulled out of his thoughts as Lia led him into a small village. There were a lot of people around, and some of them even looked like Lia. No exactly, of course, but they were obviously of her race._

"_Cameron!"_

_Cam glanced up, and felt his eyes widen._

_Approaching him and Lia was a young woman. She had long blonde hair, and green eyes. She was very pretty, and was also giving Cam a sultry, seductive look from beneath long eyelashes. A smug smile played around her lips._

_Lia stiffened slightly. Cam didn't have to see her face to know that she was upset, and he wondered why._

_The other woman turned hard eyes on Lia, and reached out to run sharp nails down the side of her face. "Where are you taking him?" she asked, her tone deceptively sweet._

"_To my father," Lia answered after a moment's hesitation. "Please get out of my way, Riana." Her voice shook just a little._

_Riana stared at Lia for a long moment, her expression unreadable. "He's not yours yet," she told her. Then, she looked at Cam. "As soon as you get bored with little Lia, come and find me. I'll show you what a _real_ woman is like." She gave a flirtatious smile, then turned and walked slowly away, swinging her hips a little._

_Cam let out a breath he hadn't even realised he'd been holding as Riana moved out of sight. Something about her made him nervous. He was pretty sure that she wasn't a nice person._

_Lia was just standing there. Cam blinked. "Um... Are you all right?" he asked cautiously. If this _was_ a proper dream, then he might as well make the most of it. If not..._

_Well, he would worry about that later._

_Lia took a deep breath, and straightened her shoulders. "I'm fine," she responded. But she let go of Cam's hand, and, for some reason, that bothered the green samurai ranger._

"_Follow me," Lia said shortly, and started walking again._

_Not sure what else to do, Cam followed her._

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Dustin's lips grazed Cally's as they sat on the sofa, curled up closer than they had been for quite a while. There was a film on, but both had stopped paying attention to it a while ago.

Dustin's hands slid over Cally's back, pressing the violet light ranger closer to him. He pulled back from kissing her, only to return a moment later with more force.

Cally felt a little giddy from the sensation of being kissed by Dustin. She'd forgotten what it felt like to be kissed by someone who loved you as much as you loved them.

Cally wasn't sure what had changed that night. She had originally promised herself not to bring up the subject of their relationship until Dustin did, but something had snapped inside her earlier.

"You ok?" Dustin murmured against her lips.

Cally nodded slightly. She didn't want to ruin the moment, but she had to ask, "Does this mean that you've forgiven me?"

The yellow wind ranger laughed a little, but his arms tightened around Cally, showing just how important he felt her question was. "Yes, it does," he said firmly, sincerely. "It took me a while to _properly_ be able to forgive you... But I have now." Even as he said it, Dustin realised that it was the truth. No false reassurances.

Cally stared at Dustin for a long moment, then her eyes filled with tears. She leaned into Dustin, feeling his hand gently stroke her hair. She felt a wave of relief wash over her, and her mind was finally able to relax.

_Forgiven._

Before, Cally had never really seen what the act of forgiving could do to people. She had understood that forgiveness was a good thing, but she had never got why it seemed to make people act so free, like a great weight had been lifted from them.

Now, though, Cally understood. She guessed that it was like being on death row, and then finding out that your life was going to be spared. It was somewhat more than that, but that was the best way the violet light ranger could think of to describe how she felt, having been finally forgiven by Dustin.

Dustin kissed the top of Cally's head, and then rested his forehead against hers. "I love you, Cally," he whispered. "I love you so much."

"I love you too," the violet light ranger responded.

Dustin continued to hold Cally for a while. Then, he gave a soft sigh, and released her. "I'd better get going," he said. "It's getting quite late."

Cally hesitated, then nodded slowly. "Be careful," she said. "Don't get into any trouble, ok?"

"I won't." Dustin kissed her. "You really need to get some sleep. I'll see you tomorrow." The yellow wind ranger stood up, and walked out of the front door.

Outside, it was really dark. Dustin shivered a little, kind of wishing that he'd thought to bring his car with him. He'd thought that he'd be all right walking, but it _was_ really late. He couldn't exactly use his speed abilities, because they weren't allowed to use their ninja powers for personal gain.

Dustin was some distance away from the house Cally, Faye, and David shared when he realised that he was being followed.

The yellow wind ranger turned round, his fingers already moving towards his communicator so that he could call the others to come and help him.

However, before Dustin could do so, whatever was following him lunged. The last thing he felt before he lost consciousness was sharp fangs piercing his throat.

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Read and review, please!

Ok, I wasn't going to ask this, but if I don't, I'll really lose interest in this fic.

Anyone reviewing, I'd like you to do something for me. Could you please write what you like about this fic? Then, for each of the original characters, could you write, in your opinion, one good quality they have, and one bad quality? Please.

It would be a tremendous help to me if you could


	3. Chapter Three

**Poison**

**Chapter Three**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from Power Rangers, Ninja Storm, and I'm not making any money from this fic

**Replies to reviews:**

**star:** Well, you _will_ find out what happens to Dustin... Unfortunately, not in this chapter. Thanks for reviewing

**garnetred:** In a good way or a bad way, with Faye and Cally? I'm glad you find the fic interesting . I have wondered a bit about the plots, especially with the vampires in Roses and Thorns. Thanks for reviewing, and it does help

**Jorgitosbabe:** To see the pics, click on the homepage link on my profile, then go to Photos. Also, if you want to see mini profiles on the original rangers, go to the articles section, and it should be there. (This goes for anyone else reading this fic who wants to see the photos and/or profiles). Well, at least you think this fic is original... Thanks for reviewing, and I'm glad you liked it

**BlueAngel07:** I'm glad you liked it, and thanks for reviewing

**CamFan4Ever:** You don't have anything to say about them? o.o That's kind of worrying... Who does Peter remind you of? Yeah, I noticed you updated Hand in Hand . It's great! and I'm glad you think this fic is original. Thanks for reviewing, and here's the next chapter

**Author's Note:** Ok... Right at the last part of this chapter, I might be pushing the limits as to what an original character is allowed to do. o.o You have been warned

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_Cam followed Lia into a small hut. The woman seemed to still be bothered by Riana's appearance and words. She had remained silent throughout the rest of the time._

_Cam was even more bothered because the sense of belonging had returned. He supposed that was only natural if he was dreaming, but it _definitely_ didn't seem like a normal dream, and that worried Cam quite a bit. It wasn't like he didn't know that other worlds really existed - the Forest of Feelings was proof of that. But if this place _was_ another world, then why was the green samurai ranger entering it through his dreams? Was there a weakness in whatever barrier kept the different realms separate?_

Could this have anything to do with why I've been feeling so worn out lately?_ Cam wondered. He didn't _think_ that the two things were linked... But they could be._

_Cam pulled himself out of his thoughts, and looked around the hut Lia had led him to._

_The inside of the hut was lovely, with woven draperies covering the windows, creating a dim, comfortable atmosphere. There was a woven carpet under Cam's feet, and delicately carved furniture was placed neatly around. There was a door in the opposite wall, presumably leading to another part of the hut._

_Cam's eyes finally fell on the occupant of the hut, and he blinked with surprise. _This_ was Lia's father?_

_The person inside the room looked a little bit like Lia, but more like the pictures of catboys, or nekos, that Cam had looked at when he was younger. He had brownish-yellow furry skin with longish red hair and cat-like ears. He also had a tail and wore no shirt._

"_Father, I brought Cameron back here," Lia said, walking over to the neko._

_The neko looked carefully at Cam, but spoke to Lia, "Good. We don't really want him running around on his own, especially considering what's going on right now. Did you have any problems bringing him here?"_

_Lia hesitated for a long moment, then answered, "No."_

"_Why don't you go and see if the Elder Woman needs any help?" It was an obvious dismissal, and Lia took it as such. She fled from the hut, leaving Cam suddenly feeling lost and left alone._

"_My daughter gets very overexcited sometimes," the neko observed in a flat, unemotional voice. His eyes seemed to pierce right through the green samurai ranger, looking directly into Cam's soul. His body didn't look old, but, looking into the neko's eyes, Cam could see that he was worn out._

_As if reading the ranger's thoughts, the neko said, "I am getting old, Cameron. Too old for this continual battling. Of the originals, only I and the Elder Woman are left. The others have all moved let go, too tired to carry on."_

The original what?_ Cam wondered. His heart started to beat faster as the neko stepped nearer to him. The green samurai ranger felt a sudden urge to run screaming from the hut, but he didn't. For some reason, he felt as if he couldn't move._

"_It is soon going to be time for the legacy to be passed on," the neko continued. "For the power to choose new bearers." The neko paused, then said, "I know that you are from another world, but you also belong to this one."_

_Cam felt really confused, but he felt the dream-world slipping out of his grasp. He struggled to hold onto it, but it fled away from him._

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Blake and Hunter were racing round the track, first one being in the lead and then the other.

The two thunder rangers finished their race, and got off their bikes.

"I need to take a shower and get to Storm Chargers, bro," Blake commented. "I'll catch you later." The navy thunder ranger walked off.

Hunter felt a little surprised, but then he caught sight of the person heading towards him, and wished that he could think of a good excuse to leave.

Lila picked her way gingerly across the track, thinking that she really should have put walking shoes on. Then again, she hadn't actually planned to come to the race track that day. Her feet had apparently decided to walk there of their own accord, so Lila had just decided to let them take charge.

"Hello, Lila," Hunter said softly. The mark from where he had hit her may have faded some time ago, but the memory of it still lay between them, as did the tension of too much emotion kept below the surface.

"Can we talk?" the silver silk ranger asked softly. Not demanding or pleading, just a simple question.

Hunter looked steadily at Lila. "What is there to talk about?"

Lila squirmed a little inside, wondering if she had done the right thing, coming here. Her heart ached, and all she really wanted was to be close to Hunter. She hadn't been sleeping well, and it showed in the dark circles under her eyes which stood out against her pale skin which refused to tan.

"Hunter, I think we need to talk about... us," Lila answered finally.

"You said you'd give me time," Hunter responded. His face was unreadable.

"I've already apologised," Lila said, a note of desperation creeping into her voice. "Isn't that enough?"

"You tell me." Hunter turned his attention to removing the pads he was wearing for protection. He half-expected Lila to leave, but the silver silk ranger remained where she was.

Lila bit her lip, considering, and tried to put herself in Hunter's shoes. No, not literally. The crimson thunder ranger clearly didn't keep up with the latest fashions. Lila wouldn't be caught dead wearing his boots.

_I really need Faye here,_ Lila thought to herself. The orange light ranger had taken on the role of peacemaker for the group. She was the one who most understood other people's feelings, and wasn't afraid to bully them into making the right decision. Of course, she was also not very good when it came to a battle.

_How would I feel if the situation was reversed?_ Lila wondered. _If I felt betrayed by Hunter..._

_I'd probably find it difficult to forgive him._

Much as she wished otherwise, Lila knew, deep down inside, that she couldn't blame the crimson thunder ranger for feeling the way he did - hurt and betrayed. She and her brother had been willing to destroy the other Power Rangers, and that wasn't acceptable.

_At least Lothor's not likely to kill our parents,_ Lila thought numbly. _He seems to need them for something._

Hunter turned back to Lila, and raised his eyebrow. "You're still here?"

Lila took a deep breath, and plunged in with the question she felt she needed to ask: "Is there any hope for us at all?"

Hunter hesitated for a long moment. He considered the question of their relationship important, and knew that Lila did as well. It wasn't the sort of thing that could be worked out immediately. Hunter would always be wondering if he had made the right decision or not.

"I don't know," the crimson thunder ranger answered at last. "I'd _like_ there to be... But I don't know if it's possible."

Lila nodded slowly. Really, that was the best she could hope for. "I'd better get going. There's a sale on, and I don't want to miss it." She turned to go.

"Hey, if you wait for me to take a quick shower, I'll drive you there," Hunter offered before he really thought about it.

Lila turned back with a small smile. "All right," she said. "Thanks."

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In Storm Chargers, Blake sneaked up behind Tori, and put his hands over the blue wind ranger's eyes. "Guess who?" he murmured.

"Um... Blake," Tori laughed.

The navy thunder ranger laughed lightly, and moved round to peck Tori on the lips.

"Blake, do you know where Dustin is?" Kelly asked, making her way towards Blake and Tori. "He didn't show up for work this morning, and Tori doesn't know where he is."

"That doesn't sound like him," Blake commented with a frown. "Dustin might be _late_... But, if he's not going to turn up, he _always_ lets you know, unless there's no way he can get in contact."

Blake and Tori exchanged worried glances. The blue wind ranger knew what Blake wasn't saying. The only time Dustin _didn't_ call to let Kelly know that he wasn't going to be in was if he was on Power Ranger business... And Blake and Tori knew that he definitely _wasn't_.

Kelly frowned. "That's true," she admitted. "You, Hunter, and Dustin seem to always disappear at exactly the same time. Do you know where he was last night?"

"Where who was last night?" David asked from behind them.

The white light ranger and the orange light ranger had come into Storm Chargers while the others were talking. Faye's expression showed concern, but David just looked confused.

"Dustin," Tori answered.

David's face cleared. "Oh, didn't he go back with Cally?"

"Oh, yeah," Blake nodded. "Could he have decided to stay the night round yours, and overslept?"

Faye frowned slightly. "That probably isn't likely," she replied. "I mean the oversleeping. He _could_ have stayed the night... No one was up when David and I got back in. But Cally had horse riding on quite early this morning, followed by gymnastics. She definitely wouldn't have missed them, and she probably would have woken up Dustin."

"Why don't you try ringing her?" David suggested. "She could have finished by now."

Blake noticed how David didn't actually offer to ring Cally himself. The navy thunder ranger wondered if that was because of the fight the brother and sister had had when David had been recruited by Lothor.

Faye nodded. She took out her mobile, dialled a number, and pressed it to her ear.

"I'd better go and see to the customers," Kelly said. "Let me know if you get hold of Dustin. Blake, come and help me in a moment when you've found out what's going on with Dustin."

The navy thunder ranger nodded, and Kelly moved to the counter and the waiting customers.

After a few moments, Faye cancelled the call, a worried expression on her face. "There's no answer," she said.

"Try again in a little while," Blake suggested. "She might not have heard it ring."

At just that moment, their communicators went off.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cally was getting changed out of her leotard. She had persuaded the instructor to let her stay later to get some extra workout in. She had been in the club for a while now, so the instructor knew that she could be trusted to lock up properly.

The violet light ranger left the changing room, and made her way through the now dark, deafeningly silent gym.

Cally almost banged into one of the bars, but she managed to swerve to the side in time, and catch herself before she fell.

Cally froze, her ears straining. She'd been certain that she'd just heard someone walking quietly in the gym. She held herself still, her heart pounding in her chest.

_It must have been my imagination,_ Cally decided after a few moments, having heard no other sounds. _I'm just feeling unusually jumpy at the moment._

The violet light ranger started walking again. The exit wasn't that far away, and no one was likely to have entered a deserted building.

Suddenly, an arm snaked around Cally's neck. The violet light ranger was jerked violently off her feet and against a suited chest. The arm around her neck tightened, and Cally choked as grey spots danced before her eyes.

Cally brought her foot back as hard as she could, and was rewarded with a low grunt. The pressure on her throat eased, and Cally twisted away. She banged her hip into the bar she had just avoided, and bit back a yelp.

Cally's attacker swung towards the sound, and his gloved fist caught Cally in the shoulder, sending her crashing into the bars.

Cally winced as pain shot through her arm and side, and couldn't stop a soft groan from escaping her. She really hoped that her arm wasn't broken, but it was probably bruised at the very least.

"Who _are_ you?" the violet light ranger demanded. She groped her way towards the far wall, and felt her way along until she found the light switch. She flicked it.

Cally's attacker was a Power Ranger. A black one.

The violet light ranger stared in shock. A part of her knew that she should call for backup, or at least morph, but she was too surprised to do so. There was _another_ power ranger? Where had this one come from?

The black power ranger seemed to flinch slightly at the sudden light. But he quickly dove towards Cally again.

The violet light ranger did a sideways flip, vaulting over a set of bars, and let out a soft gasp as the pain from her injuries got fiercer. She couldn't last much longer. She was almost certain that her arm was broken, and her hip felt severely bruised. She also thought that she might have cracked a few ribs.

The black power ranger quickly followed suit, though did a forwards flip instead.

The two were facing each other, Cally breathing a little heavily, but the black ranger seemed to be fine. Of course, he hadn't been sent crashing into a set of heavy metal bars.

At just that moment, Cally's mobile phone rang.

Cally took her attention off the black ranger for a split second, but that was enough.

The black power ranger executed executed a flying kick at the violet light ranger. His foot caught her full in the chest, sending her slamming into the wall.

_Who is he?_ Cally wondered, struggling to her feet. _Why does it seem like he's trying to kill me?_

The black power ranger aimed a punch at Cally. The violet light ranger blocked it, but did so with her bad arm. She cried out as she felt the bone snap, and staggered back.

The black power ranger slammed his fist into Cally's hip, then kicked her. The violet light ranger felt pain shoot through her ribs, and was powerless to stop the black ranger from throwing her into the set of bars she had jumped over.

Cally's head cracked sickeningly against the metal, and the whole world exploded in red which then faded to black.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Read and review, please!


	4. Chapter Four

**Poison**

**Chapter Four**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from Power Rangers, Ninja Storm, and I'm not making any money from this fic

**Replies to reviews:**

**garnetred:** I'm kind of curious now . I won't ask, though. It's kind of rude to be nosy -.-. Anyways, thanks for reviewing, and I'm glad you liked it. You'll have to read on to find out about the new Power Ranger. I'll tell you one thing, though: It's a kind of supernatural thing

**CamFan4Ever:** Hm, well I didn't base Peter on any character in particular - he wasn't even supposed to exist in the first place. Is FYL II still going to be on hold? Thanks for reviewing

**BlueAngel07:** Thanks for reviewing, and I'm glad you liked it

**Jorgitosbabe:** I'm glad you liked it, thanks for reviewing . And I'm pleased that you liked the pictures and bios of Cally and the other original characters. (Note to self: Must write bio for Lia. I don't think I've done that yet)

**Author's Note:** Sorry it's taken so long for me to update. I was ill last week, and I've been quite busy

* * *

Hunter's morpher went off while he was following Lila into yet _another_ shop, really wishing that he hadn't opened his big mouth and offered to be a chaperone to the silver silk ranger. 

The crimson thunder ranger cursed, and tried to get to his morpher. Unfortunately, he was so laden down with bags that he couldn't quite reach it.

Everyone in the shop turned to stare accusingly at Hunter. Embarrassed, the crimson thunder ranger ducked his head. "Watch alarm," he mumbled.

Hunter waited until his morpher stopped beeping, and people weren't staring at him, and then looked around for Lila.

The silver silk ranger had wandered off somewhere, presumably to one of the many clothes sections in New Look.

Hunter rolled his eyes up to the ceiling, looking for patience. He'd already asked Lila not to go wandering off without him, and she had apparently chosen not to pay attention.

Hunter eventually found the silver silk ranger standing impatiently in line at the changing rooms. She had her arms folded, holding the hangers of the clothes she was going to try on with one hand, and was tapping her foot as loudly as she could, ignoring the stares and the requests to make less noise.

The crimson thunder ranger transferred the bags he was holding to one hand, then strode up to Lila. "Come on," he said shortly. "We have to go."

"But I've got to try these on," Lila protested.

"No, you don't," Hunter responded, grabbing Lila's arm. "We have to go _now_." The crimson thunder ranger glanced round to check that no one was listening, then asked in a deadly tone, "Didn't your communicator go off?"

"Well, yeah," Lila replied quietly. "But this sale will be finished soon, Hunter!"

With a sigh, the crimson thunder ranger took the clothes off Lila, and stormed over to the counter.

"Hunter, what if they don't fit?" Lila demanded, following him.

"I'm sure you can exchange them if you find that they don't fit," Hunter replied over his shoulder as he paid. "In any case, you've probably been shopping enough times to be able to estimate your size in _any_ type of clothing."

The shop worker serving Hunter looked faintly amused by this exchange. She probably saw a young man frustrated from having to trail his girlfriend from clothes shop to clothes shop.

Well, that was pretty much true... Aside fromLila beingHunter's girlfriend, of course.

Hunter took the bag of clothes, and walked back over to Lila. "Let's go," he said shortly.

* * *

Frustrated and worried, Faye put her mobile down. "She's still not responding," the orange light ranger reported. 

Shane looked at the screen which had just been showing Dustin lying on a hospital bed, and sighed. "Dustin's been hurt... And now Cally seems to be missing."

Faye bristled slightly. "I hope you're not implying what I think you are," she said.

"Well, you have to admit that it doesn't look good," Blake spoke up.

Faye switched her glare from Shane to Blake. She and the navy thunder ranger had disliked each other on sight, for no apparent reason. They just seemed to rub each other up the wrong way. Their hostility had actually begun during Cally's foray into the Forest of Feelings, when they had properly met for the first time.

"We should not jump to conclusions," Sensei broke in. "There could be a reasonable explanation as to why Cally cannot be contacted at this moment."

"Yeah, like she maybe crashed?" David suggested. "Having gymnastics _and_ horse riding on, one after the other, must be quite tiring."

The white light ranger, though a good leader, had been rather quiet lately, preferring not to contradict decisions, and not willing to enter into conflicts with anyone. He'd been like that since Lothor had used him against his sister, Cally, and his girlfriend, Faye. He really seemed to listen more to Faye, and possibly Dustin as well.

A brown blur appeared in the rec. room, revealing itself to be Peter. The brown silk ranger tended to keep to himself, but he was quite close to his sister, Lila, and he and Blake had a kind of wary respect for each other.

"Peter, you should not use your ninja powers where you could be seen," Sensei scolded.

"Sorry, Sensei," the brown silk ranger responded to the guinea pig. "I just thought that Cam wanted me to get here as quickly as possible."

The Power Ranger in question gave a worried frown. "Now why are Hunter and Lila not answering their communicators?" he wondered out loud.

"They're probably together somewhere," Blake commented. "Lila came to the race track to talk to Hunter, and they might have gone off together."

Lila probably dragged him into clothes shopping with her," Peter muttered.

"I can't get hold of Tori, either," Cam said, frowning even more.

"Dude, she's probably surfing," Shane said, though he looked worried as well.

"So what _do_ you want us all here for?" Peter wanted to know.

"We'd better wait for Hunter and Lila to get here, at least," Cam answered. "I don't want to repeat this more times than I have to, as the others already know."

At just that moment, Hunter stormed into the rec. room, laden down with a large number of carrier bags. Following close behind him was the silver silk ranger.

"Couldn't resist the temptation of a sale?" Peter dryly asked his sister.

Before Lila could respond, Faye asked, "Have you seen Cally at all?"

All of the girls had grown to be quite good friends. Lila and Cally hung out quite a bit together, though not as much as Cally and Faye did.

Lila blinked, and then slowly shook her head. "No, sorry," she responded. "Hasn't she been with you?"

At just that moment, the violet light ranger stumbled into the rec. room, limping badly and holding her arm against her chest.

Concern flared in David's eyes, but Lila and Faye were the ones who ran over to Cally, and helped her into a chair.

"What happened?" Shane demanded while Cam went over to check on the ranger's injuries.

"Got into a fight," Cally mumbled. She winced as Cam's fingers probed the arm she was holding to her chest.

"Who did you fight with?" Peter wanted to know. Sensei looked a little disapproving, obviously feeling that Cally should have called for help. Well, as disapproving as a guinea pig could look.

Cally hesitated, then responded, "A black ranger." She yelped as Cam jerked slightly, his fingers tightening on her injured arm.

"A black ranger?" Sensei repeated.

"You mean there's _another_ Power Ranger?" Hunter frowned.

Sensei looked very serious. "This may have something to do with what Cam called you all here for," he commented.

"But Tori isn't here yet," Blake protested with a frown. He was quite worried about the blue wind ranger. At the very least, Tori would have let them know if she couldn't make it.

"I think your arm's broken," Cam said to Cally as he started binding up the limb in question. "I don't know if our accelerated healing works on broken bones." The green samurai ranger caught sight of Cally's other wrist, and took a step backwards in surprise and shock. "What happened to your morpher?"

"I'm not sure," the violet light ranger admitted, looking down at her all but destroyed morpher. "I lost consciousness after I hit my head, and when I woke up, my morpher was like this."

Sensei looked even more serious, his eyes showing a gleam of worry. "You will have to keep out of fighting until your morpher is fixed," he told Cally.

Cally looked slightly annoyed, but she held out her arm, and let Cam take off her morpher.

"Well, what did you call us all here for?" Peter wanted to know.

Cam straightened. "Remember that strange virus I told you about?" the green samurai ranger asked. "Dustin's been infected. He's in the hospital."

Cally's eyes widened. "What... But I only saw him yesterday!" she protested.

"We were sort of wondering earlier if you _had_ seen him today," David commented to his sister. "Didn't you get Faye's call?"

Cally's eyes widened even more, and she stared at her friend. "That was _you_? That phone call broke my concentration!"

Faye squirmed a little. "Sorry," she mumbled. "I was really worried when you didn't answer at all."

"What are we going to do?" Peter questioned. "If we start losing some of us, that could cause some serious problems."

"I believe that it is the work of Lothor," Sensei said.

"Is it fatal?" Hunter wanted to know.

"No one's died _yet_," Cam responded. "But it's probably only a matter of time. Every victim has gone into a coma. Really, the only thing keeping them alive are the life support machines they're hooked up to... Sooner or later, the hospitals are going to run out."

"Well, at least it's slightly better than when we had that plague of vampires," Blake frowned. "We actually _did_ die then."

Lila shuddered slightly. "Don't remind me of that, please," she said, one hand moving up to touch her neck. "I barely escaped becoming one, and Peter actually _did_ become one."

"How's the little boy doing?" Faye asked. They'd managed to find a family willing to take in the child who didn't know who his parents were. Hunter and Blake both thought that he'd been in the same children's home as them, but that would have meant that he had barely aged at all - he would have been a vampire for quite some time.

They were still trying to work out just _how_ he'd been transformed into one.

"He's fine," Cam answered. "He seems to be settling in all right."

Silence fell, each Power Ranger caught up in his or her own thoughts.

Shane was the first person to break the silence: "Dude, I kind of need to get to skateboarding. If there's nothing else we can do, I'll just go."

Sensei nodded, and, one by one, the others all murmured their excuses and left - Blake was going to look for Tori. Finally, Cam went into the main room of NinjaOps, and Sensei went to have a lie-down.

* * *

_Cam came to and found that Riana was bending over him. He frowned, wondering where Lia had gone, and why he was no longer in the presence of her father._

"_Are you all right, Cameron?" Riana asked, her voice a soft purr._

_Cam tried to speak, but he found that his mouth was dry. He swallowed, and tried again: "Where is Lia?"_

_Riana frowned slightly. "What do you want with that neko?" she questioned. "She cannot interest you."_

Riana's wrong,_ the green samurai ranger thought with certainty. _Lia _does_ interest me... I want to know why she seems to think that we are promised to each other.

_Cam had to wonder if he had somehow stepped into the identity of his other self - his reflection, if you like, in this world. He wondered if there was an alternate self for everyone in each parallel world. Obviously, though, the green samurai ranger couldn't really experiment. He only knew of two other worlds._

_Riana smiled seductively, and leaned close to Cam. "Forget about Lia," she murmured. Then, she kissed him._

_Startled, Cam found himself returning the kiss. Riana's lips felt smooth, and she ignited a fire deep inside him. But Cam didn't really want to kiss Riana - he kept on wondering what it would be like to kiss Lia._

_The young woman smiled against Cam's lips. Then, Cam saw her eyes shift past him. The green samurai ranger pulled away from Riana, and turned his head._

_Lia gave him a wide-eyed stare, then spun on her heel and ran off._

* * *

Read and review, please! 


	5. Chapter Five

**Poison**

**Chapter Five**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from Power Rangers, Ninja Storm, and I'm not making any money from this fic

**Replies to reviews:**

**garnetred:** Oooh, idea . You'll have to wait to find out what's _really_ happening, though. -Evil grin-. Thanks for reviewing, and I'm glad you liked it

**Jorgitosbabe:** -Deafened-. Okies, here's the next chapter. Thanks for reviewing, and I'm glad you liked it

**CamFan4Ever:** Thanks for reviewing, and I'm glad you liked it. And when are you gonna update, hm?

**BlueAngel07:** Thanks for reviewing, and I'm glad you liked it

* * *

Blake frowned to himself as he left NinjaOps. Now where would Tori be? The beach would be the most obvious place for him to look. The only trouble was, if she _was_ safe at the beach, then why hadn't she turned up at NinjaOps?

Blake half-considered driving to the beach, but decided that streaking there would be much quicker. If Tori _was_ hurt, he wanted to find her as quickly as possible.

The navy thunder ranger streaked towards the beach, hoping against hope that the blue wind ranger was all right. He didn't want to lose Tori.

Blake froze when he saw the limp figure lying still on the sand. The rest of the beach was deserted. A bad sign.

Please_ don't let it be Tori,_ Blake silently begged as he slowly approached the limp form. He wasn't sure exactly who the silent plea was addressed to - he didn't really believe in God.

In any case, the plea was not answered. As soon as the navy thunder ranger got close enough, he saw that it was his girlfriend lying there.

Blake crouched down next to Tori's prone form, pushing away the urge to call someone to come and help. Fighting the sense of panic, the navy thunder ranger reached out to lightly touch two fingers to Tori's neck.

There was a pulse. Faint, but it was there.

Blake sat back on his heels, wondering just what had harmed his girlfriend. It was probably the same virus that had struck down Dustin and all of those other people, but what could have caused it?

An examination of Tori's body revealed a small bite mark on her inner wrist. Blake didn't know if that had any relevance or not, but he made a mental note to himself to mention it to Cam. There could easily be similar marks on some of the other victims.

Blake pressed a few buttons on his morpher, and spoke into the communicator:

"Cam, Tori seems to have succumbed."

* * *

Cally stood outside the hospital room, peering in at Dustin's limp form wired up to the life support machine. She bit her lip slightly, unwilling to walk in and disturb the older woman sitting next to Dustin's bed who was obviously his mother.

Finally, Cally made up her mind. She pushed open the door, and walked in.

Immediately, the woman looked up. This close, Cally could clearly see the resemblance between her and Dustin, though the woman had dark circles under her eyes, and looked like she hadn't slept for ages.

"Hello, I'm Cally," the violet light ranger said softly. She wondered if Dustin had mentioned her to his family - she hadn't actually met them yet, not really.

Apparently, Dustin _had_ mentioned her. The woman tried to smile, though it didn't really look like one. "Dustin's told me about you," she said. "I'm Gladys." She started to hold her hand out to shake Cally's, then paused, her eyes falling on the sling Cally was wearing.

"I fell over and broke my arm," the violet light ranger explained, seeing the question in the older woman's eyes. Well, it was more or less the truth. She just couldn't say that she'd had help falling over.

Gladys nodded slowly, accepting this answer. She gestured towards Dustin's still form. "I assume you heard about this? His father was here, but he went to get some rest."

_She looks like she needs to get some rest herself,_ Cally thought sympathetically. She didn't say that out loud, though. Instead, she offered, "I could stay with him for a while if you wanted to get something to eat or drink."

Gladys hesitated for a moment, then gave a soft sigh and nodded. "I'll go and get a coffee or something. Let one of the doctors know if there's any change, and tell them to come and find me."

"I will," Cally responded.

"Thank you." Gladys stood up, and then left the hospital room after a last glance back towards the bed her son was lying on.

When the woman was gone, Cally sat on the chair she had just vacated, and took Dustin's cold hand in her good one.

The violet light ranger remembered reading somewhere that it was a good idea to talk to people who were in comas, and she guessed that that was what Dustin was in. She opened her mouth to say something, then closed it again. What on earth could she say to an unconscious Dustin?

"Hi, Dustin," Cally said eventually, trying to force a cheerful note into her voice. "It's me, Cally." The violet light ranger hesitated a moment, feeling a sudden lump in her throat, but she swallowed hard, and rushed on, "You've missed quite a bit. My morpher got smashed up just after gymnastics club. I got attacked by a strange black ranger, who disappeared after I smashed my head against one of those balancing bars and lost consciousness. I think I was unusually clumsy then. I kept on falling into things, I couldn't remember where anything was. I couldn't picture the inside of the room at all."

Dustin's fingers flexed slightly in Cally's hand. Probably a reflex action.

"I broke my arm," Cally continued, squeezing Dustin's hand slightly. "Our accelerated healing probably doesn't work on broken bones. Cam's looking at my morpher, but I probably won't be able to fight until my arm's healed."

The violet light ranger hesitated for a moment. Then, with a slight shrug, she leaned forward, and kissed Dustin lightly on the forehead. As she did so, she felt the lump in her throat return, and was unable to stop the tears from forcing themselves out of her eyes. With a choked gasp that was almost a sob, she pulled away, her hand coming down to hit lightly on Dustin's chest, as though that would be able to bring him back.

"You _can't_ die!" Cally whispered, her voice trembling. "It's not fair! I can't lose you again." More tears trickled out of her eyes to stream down her cheeks, and her shoulders began shaking with the force of her sobs. She didn't bother trying to stop. She couldn't begrudge Dustin her tears.

Suddenly, Cally's head jerked up, an idea occurring to her.

* * *

_It was so beautiful and peaceful. He knew that he was dead, or something close to it, but the thought held no fear for him._

_There was no bright light, no pain. Just a sense of a gentle tugging on his soul, and a feeling of being welcomed. He felt like there was nothing holding him to life._

_Then, his parents walked in._

_His mother was crying, and his father didn't look much better. He hadn't really paid much attention to what they had been saying. Just the fact that they were _there_ was the most important thing. He still couldn't get back into his body, but he felt a slight link to life beginning to form._

_Dustin watched Cally walk in after his father had left to get some rest with only a feeling of mild surprise. He felt a faint stab of concern when Cally talked about the fight she had been in, but it wasn't very strong. He was light, now. She was still half-and-half, like everyone else. He should not care about her. Or any others like her._

_Something tugged at his soul. Another one._

_Dustin drifted lightly out of the room, through the door, with barely a backwards glance, to answer the other's call._

* * *

Lothor watched the scene in front of him, his expression faintly annoyed. He looked towards Zurgane and his nieces, Kapri and Marah.

"Is something wrong, uncle?" Marah asked.

"I never authorised a monster to go around infecting the people of earth with some strange disease!" Lothor snapped. He glared at Zurgane. "General Zurgane, did _you_ authorise this?" he demanded.

"No, sir," Zurgane responded.

"_He_ didn't," a voice said. "But _I_ did."

* * *

"_Lia, wait." Cam followed the neko, ignoring Riana, who had a smug expression on her face. He wasn't really sure why he was following her, though. No matter what Lia believed, he didn't owe her anything._

_Lia paused just outside the village, leaning against a tree with her arms folded across her chest. She probably hadn't stopped because she was getting worn out - she looked fine._

"_Lia?" Cam asked softly._

_The neko glanced at him, then looked away with a sigh. "She doesn't really care about you, you know."_

_That brought Cam up short. Whatever he had been expecting her to say, it wasn't that._

"_I can't keep you bound to me against your own will," Lia continued, still not looking at him. "Much as I'd like to. If it was anyone else other than Riana, I wouldn't stand in your way."_

_The green samurai ranger opened his mouth, then closed it again, struggling to find something to say. Finally, he commented, "You don't like Riana."_

"_And she doesn't like me," Lia replied. "It goes much deeper than that, though. Even _I'm_ not sure how deep it goes."_

She's not going to say anything else about it,_ Cam realised. _At least, not at the moment. _Out loud, he began, "Lia, I... I'm not actually _from_ this world..."_

_Suddenly, Cam became aware of a loud buzzing noise, and realised that Lia wasn't looking at him. She appeared to be listening to something, then she abruptly turned and ran back into the village, screaming, "We're under attack!"_

* * *

Read and review, please! 


	6. Chapter Six

**Poison**

**Chapter Six**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from Power Rangers, Ninja Storm, and I'm not making any money from this fic

**Replies to reviews:**

**CamFan4Ever:** Well, you'll find out in this chapter . Yeah, writer's block sucks . I've had it loads of times. I hope you update your stories soon . Anyways, thanks for reviewing, and I'm glad you liked it

**Jorgitosbabe:** Well, you'll find out at least one of those answers in this chapter . I'm glad you liked it, and thanks for reviewing

**garnetred:** Once again, you'll find out in this chapter . Thanks for reviewing, and I'm glad you liked it

* * *

"You ok, David?"

The white light ranger glanced up at his girlfriend from where he had been sitting on the settee in their house staring at a page in his book. "Why do you ask?" he questioned.

"Because you've been reading the same page for a while now," Faye answered, gesturing towards the book in his hands. "I've been watching you for the past few minutes, and you haven't turned the page at all."

David looked down. "Sorry," he mumbled.

"Don't apologise." Faye sat next to him, and took his hand. "Got a lot on your mind?" she asked sympathetically.

David started to shake his head. Then, he sighed and nodded. "I can't help thinking how well you and Cally managed without me," he admitted in a low voice. "I guess you don't really need me to protect you."

"Well, maybe we don't need you to protect us," Faye responded after a moment's hesitation. "But we _do_ still need you. With the capture of our families, it's only us three left until we can get them back."

David glanced down at their clasped hands. Then, with a soft sigh, he lightly squeezed Faye's hand. "Where's Cally?" he asked, knowing that his girlfriend would always keep a close watch on the violet light ranger's movements in case she went back into her depression.

"She went to the hospital to see Dustin," Faye answered, biting her lip. "David… Cally's not exactly strong. I don't know what would happen if Dustin died. I don't know what it would do to her."

"She'll be fine," David said, trying to smile at the orange light ranger. "In reality, Cally is much stronger than you give her credit for… After all, she _does_ have the catalyst ability."

Faye nodded. Then, she sighed. "Cally won't use the catalyst ability again," she told David. "She says that it's too dangerous to the people around her. The time she used it, no one was seriously hurt. She thinks that, if there's a next time, we won't be so lucky."

"She could have a point," David conceded. "It's not like the catalyst ability is without its dangers. Someone _could_ easily get hurt. I don't think that she should stop using it," the white light ranger added quickly in response to the frown Faye was giving him. "I just think that she should learn to better use it controlling it better, before using it again in a fight."

"It seemed like it was something that was unlocked while we were meditating," Faye said. "I remember that I was trying to get Cal to relax, and was going through the stages of the meditation with her. Then, I looked down, and realised that she was pulling energy out of me."

"Why do you think she was doing that?" David wanted to know.

"To fight the depression that was trying to eat away at her soul," Faye replied simply. "I saw it then, and I remember being surprised that she hadn't tried to kill herself a second time."

David winced slightly at that, and his hand tightened on Faye's. "I wish I'd been there for her."

"You are now," Faye told him, raising her head so that their lips were centimetres away from each other, almost brushing as she formed the words. "Believe me, that means a lot to Cally."

Instead of answering, David leaned forward, and kissed Faye gently on the lips. His warm hands slid under her blouse, and he gently lay her down on the settee.

* * *

Cam woke up with a jump. For a moment, he looked from side to side, unsure of exactly where he was. The last thing he remembered was Lia getting into a panic because someone, or something, was attacking the village.

_Oh, I'm back here,_ the green samurai ranger thought without much enthusiasm. His mouth tasted like cotton wool, and he really needed a drink. He felt his lower lip crack slightly, and, putting a hand up, found that it was bleeding.

Cam got out of the chair at the computer, rubbing at the crick in his neck. He really needed to stop falling asleep while he was working. If nothing else, at least his neck wouldn't hurt from sleeping at a funny angle.

The green samurai ranger got a cold drink out of the fridge, and gulped it down. He felt an immense relief as the water ran down his parched throat.

"Feeling better, son?"

Cam jerked, nearly dropping the glass onto the floor as his father spoke behind him. His heart pounded in his chest as he turned to face the guinea pig. "Dad, you startled me," he said.

"You are not getting enough sleep, Cam," Sensei observed, his tone quietly scolding. "This is not the first time you have fallen asleep while sitting at your computer."

The green samurai ranger heard the concern in his father's voice, and winced slightly. He hadn't wanted to make him worry. "I don't think it's that I'm not getting enough sleep," Cam responded out loud. "I just seem to be really tired lately. I don't know why." But he could probably make a guess. His body, and possibly his spirit, felt safe in Lia's world, where Lothor apparently did not exist. Seeing as he could only enter the world when he was asleep, his body was becoming exhausted quicker to ensure that he would sleep for longer periods and at more frequent intervals.

"Blake tried to contact you via your communicator." The expression in Sensei's eyes was unreadable. "You wouldn't wake up, so I spoke to him on your behalf."

Cam's heart sank as he heard the seriousness in his father's tone. He passed a weary hand across his face. "Has another Power Ranger succumbed to the mysterious illness?" he asked, afraid of the answer.

Sensei nodded slowly. "Blake found Tori at the beach," he told his son. "She was in an unconscious state. However, he found bite marks on her body."

The green samurai ranger's eyes widened, and his heart sank. "Vampires?" The last thing they needed was to have to deal with another plague of vampires. The previous one had nearly decimated the Power Rangers, having infected a good number of them along with many of the people of Blue Bay Harbour.

"I do not think so," Sensei answered. "The bite marks were on Tori's wrist. Vampires usually bite their victim's neck."

"I'll go and take a look." Without waiting for his father to respond, Cam streaked off.

* * *

"Who are you?" Lothor demanded, staring at the cruel-looking young man who had somehow managed to get onto the space ninja's ship. He looked at Zurgane and his two nieces, scowling. "Did any of you let him in?"

"No, uncle," Kapri and Marah chorused.

"No, sir," Zurgane said.

"Oh, it was quite easy to sneak past your aliens," the stranger responded, studying his fingernails as though the conversation wasn't all that interesting. "I may no longer be in the Forest of Feelings, but I still have _some_ of my powers in this world."

"Who are you?" Lothor repeated, raising his voice slightly.

"I'm a wizard," the man answered with a slight shrug. "Two Power Rangers came into the Forest of Feelings and stopped my attempt to turn everyone in Blue Bay Harbour into evil vampire-like creatures."

"That was _you_?" Lothor said. "That would have been a great plan… If it hadn't have failed, that is."

"_This_ one won't," the wizard assured the evil space ninja. He gave a slightly mocking bow to Lothor. "You had the right alien in your arsenal, just you hadn't thought of using him… Nightshade."

"Nightshade?" Lothor frowned. "What can he…? Oh!"

The wizard nodded, looking extremely pleased with himself. "Exactly," he said. "I'm sure you'll be pleased with the results."

"Well, well, well," Lothor said thoughtfully, his expression speculative. "We will have to talk about this in great detail. It looks like I may have finally found a way to defeat those Power Rangers!"

* * *

Blake stood off to one side as Cam examined Tori's limp form. The navy thunder ranger dashed an angry hand across his face, and bit his lip hard in an attempt to stop the tears flowing. It just wasn't fair. Tori shouldn't have been attacked.

"Well, it looks like Tori was attacked by some kind of monster," Cam announced, straightening up. "I don't know if it was one of Lothor's aliens. I also don't know if it's the same epidemic that has been sweeping over everyone else. I would have to examine other victims to see if they have similar bite marks on any parts of their bodies." The green samurai ranger frowned, and continued, almost to himself, "It looks almost like a snake bite… But snakes don't tend to come onto beaches."

Hunter put a hand on Blake's shoulder. "I'm sorry, bro," he said sincerely, trying to be sympathetic. "I know you didn't want anything to happen to Tori."

Blake had called the crimson thunder ranger as soon as he had tried to contact Cam. Hunter had brought Lila with him, having been with the silver silk ranger when his brother had called.

Shane was also at the beach, but he was talking to Cam. Lila was the only one who was standing on her own, looking and feeling out of place. Aside from Hunter and her brother, the two female light rangers were the only ones the silver silk ranger was able to really talk to. Consequently, she didn't feel right being there with Tori somehow hurt. She hadn't felt as close to the blue wind ranger. Faye was with David, and she didn't know where Cally was.

Blake tried to smile at his brother, but it wasn't a very good attempt. "Thanks, bro," he said, his tone soft. He didn't sound very enthusiastic, though.

Lila sighed, wishing that her brother was there. She wouldn't feel so out of place if she had _her _brother to talk to. But Peter had decided to try and get some motorcycle training in before he went off to work, and Lila didn't want to bother him while he was concentrating, especially not for her to feel more comfortable.

"I can't believe Tori's gone," Blake whispered.

"Get a grip on yourself, bro," Hunter said, clapping a hand down on the navy thunder ranger's shoulder. "She's not dead. Not yet, at any rate."

"There's no reason why we can't find the antidote," Cam commented, walking over to Hunter and Blake, Shane staying behind with Tori's limp form. "Though, of course, first we have to find whatever's been infecting everyone."

"Got any ideas?" Hunter asked.

"Well, the bite mark looks a lot like a snake bite," Cam responded. "But I can't think of what species of snake would be at the beach… Unless it took a while for the effects of the bite to sink in."

"Could Lothor have had something to do with it?" Lila asked.

"It's possible," Cam replied. "I'll have to see what I can find out."

* * *

_Dustin found the new victim at the beach. There were half-and-halves there as well, but the yellow wind ranger wasn't interested in them._

_She was standing over the body she had used to wear. Dustin paused as he laid eyes on her, seeing how incredibly beautiful she looked in this state. He felt a sudden rush of desire for her, but pushed it aside. She had only just gone through the transition, so she was bound to be feeling rather confused and disorientated._

"_Tor?"_

_The blue wind ranger turned round, her eyes suddenly wide. "You can see me?" she asked wonderingly._

"_Yeah, I can," Dustin responded with a gentle smile. "Don't fight it, Tor. You're bound to be scared at first, but you'll see that it's really much better this way."_

"_What do you mean?" Tori frowned. "I feel… different. Like there's some part of me trying to detach itself away."_

"_It's only the bad part," Dustin responded. "Let it happen. You'll feel much better if you just let it happen. I promise."_

_Tori looked searchingly into his eyes for a moment, and then closed her own eyes. After a moment, she opened them again, her eyes much lighter. A smile raised the corners of her mouth. "You're right, Dustin," she said. "It really _is_ much better this way." She looked towards the half-and-halves, and made a slight face. "Ugh… They're so… different."_

"_Yeah, trust me, I know," Dustin replied. "We are… complete. They are not. Come. There is no point in staying around here." He held out a hand to Tori._

_The blue wind ranger allowed Dustin to lead her away from the beach, without looking back._

* * *

Cally came out of the hospital feeling tired and dispirited. Her time with Dustin hadn't helped to raise her spirits at all. She had thought that it might make her feel better to see him, but it actually had the opposite effect.

_I've lost Dustin, my parents, and my Power Ranger abilities,_ the violet light ranger thought. She couldn't let herself hope that Dustin would be all right, because what if he wasn't?

It had been hard for Cally to listen to Dustin's mother. She had tried to be sympathetic, but, really, empathy wasn't one of her strong points. Sure, she knew how Dustin's mother was feeling, but she felt rather hopeless, and couldn't think of anything to say that might make the older woman feel better.

As soon as Cally turned her phone on, it started to ring. Frowning, Cally pressed the call answer button before she crossed the road, and put it to her ear. "Hello, Cally speaking."

"Hey, Cal," Faye's voice responded. "Tori's succumbed to the weird illness. Cam says that it looks like a snake bite, but venom just kills outright. Did you see a bite mark on Dustin at all?"

"No, I couldn't see all of him," Cally answered, earning herself a strange look from a passer-by. She smiled sweetly at the person, and then asked Faye, "Does Cam think that it's a snake, then?" She spoke in a low voice, trying not to attract any more attention to herself.

"Either that, or an alien from Lothor's army," Faye responded.

"Hm? Oh, that makes sense," Cally said. "I suppose it's a possibility."

"Have you just left the hospital?" Faye wanted to know.

"Yeah," the violet light ranger answered. "There's quite a lot of people."

"Oh, so you can't really talk," Faye replied. "I understand. You can't shout at me, then."

Cally froze. "Faye, what do you mean?" she demanded, a sinking feeling in her chest.

"You need to rein in your catalyst abilities," Faye said after a long moment's hesitation. "I know you don't want to… But you need to train them."

* * *

Cam felt shattered.

He'd been working most of the night, and, given the amount of sleep he had been getting lately, he shouldn't be tired at all. But he was, and he had no idea why.

Oh, yes, he did. The reason was a neko called Lia, and a seductive human, both of whom now had a pull on his soul.

It was strange, and quite possibly dangerous. The two girls might be from a different world, but it still wasn't healthy for him to sleep so much. Then, of course, there was always the possibility that he was going crazy.

The pull of sleep and the calling of the world were still too strong, though.

Unable to stop himself, Cam's eyes started to close. The green samurai ranger didn't bother to fight anymore. His body seemed to have its own ideas.

Cam slipped into sleep once more.

* * *

Read and review, please! 


	7. Chapter Seven

**Poison**

**Chapter Seven**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from Power Rangers, Ninja Storm, and I'm not making any money from this fic

**Author's Note:** Hey all. Sorry I haven't updated in so long. I have a project currently going on, and it's been taking up all of my creativity. Also, I'm not so sure these characters are very good

**Replies to reviews:**

**Jorgitosbabe:** Thanks for reviewing and I'm glad you liked it . Here's the next chapter

**garnetred:** Well, you'll find out more in this chapter . I'm glad you liked the last chapter, and thanks for reviewing

* * *

Cally froze, feeling the dread like a hard lump in her chest. "Faye…" she began.

"Remember, you can't get mad at me," the orange light ranger responded.

"Faye, don't you remember what happened when I _did_ use it?" Cally demanded, starting walking again just so that she wouldn't look really stupid to people who were on the opposite side to the ear she was holding her mobile up to. And, also, so that she was less likely to give anything away about her being a Power Ranger. "You, Blake, and Lila were exhausted."

"Cally…" Faye began.

"Faye, it scared me," the violet light ranger interrupted her friend. "_Please_ don't make me do this." She sounded pathetic, but she didn't care. If it was at all possible, she wanted to get out of using her catalyst ability. It really wasn't fun, and was more trouble than it was worth, being dangerous to herself and her friends.

Faye was silent for a long moment. Then, finally, "I don't think that there's any other choice, Cal. I'm sorry. I'd prefer otherwise as well. It wasn't much fun to have all of my energy yanked out of me like that."

"Faye, I'll think about it," Cally said after a moment. "But I'm not going to make any promises. If there's any other way, I'd much prefer to take that."

"I know," Faye sighed. She paused, then asked softly, "How are you holding up, Cally? I mean, Dustin's in hospital, and you've pretty much lost your ranger abilities, at least for the time being."

Cally heard what Faye was not saying – she was worried about whether Cally was going to lose it again. The violet light ranger was somewhat touched by her friend's concern, but it bothered her as well that Faye seemed unable to really trust her not to try and take her life again.

_I suppose I can understand her feelings,_ Cally thought with a sigh. _To a certain extent, she's right. I can't just stop feeling depressed. It doesn't work like that. But I'm getting there._

"Cally?" Faye sounded worried.

The violet light ranger pulled herself out of her thoughts. "Sorry," she responded. "I guess I'm all right. I mean, I _am_ worried about Dustin, and, without my ranger abilities, I feel like I'm missing a part of myself… But I'm trying to cope with it." Cally hesitated, then continued, "I met Dustin's mother at the hospital. I didn't know what to say to her, though. I'm not like you, Faye. I don't know what to say to try and make people feel better."

"No, you're _you_," Faye replied. "And that's enough, Cally. No matter how much you may feel otherwise."

Before Cally could say anything to that, Faye had hung up.

Cally looked at her mobile, and then put it away with a soft sigh.

* * *

"Bro, are you going to be all right if I go to Storm Chargers and help out there?" Hunter asked, standing in the doorway of his brother's room.

The navy thunder ranger looked up, his eyes dark with pain and with dark circles under them. He clearly hadn't slept much the last night, if at all.

Hunter could understand how his brother felt. They had gone through that pain when their parents had been murdered. Hunter had wanted to spare his brother from feeling that pain again, but he now couldn't even try to spare his brother some of the pain by sharing it with him – Tori had been Blake's girlfriend.

The fact that Tori wasn't actually dead didn't count for anything. She might as well have been. She was in hospital, and Cam was trying his best to find anything that could help her, but the green samurai ranger wasn't having much luck.

Blake wiped at his eyes, and slowly nodded. "I'll be fine," he mumbled. He wanted to cry more, but he felt like he had no tears left. His eyes were gritty and felt dry.

"Are you sure?" Hunter asked with a worried frown. "I don't mind staying here with you if you'd rather not be alone." The crimson thunder ranger was extremely worried about Blake.

"Yes, I'm sure," Blake replied. "Just go. And give Kelly my apologies, please."

"Sure," Hunter said. He watched his brother for a few more moments, then, with a soft sigh, he walked out of the room.

After a few moments, Blake heard the front door bang, clearly indicating that Hunter had just left.

Blake knew that he should probably do something to take his mind off of the situation with Tori, but he didn't really feel like doing anything. He was too worried about Tori, and about Hunter, to a certain extent. Something was attacking the people of Blue Bay Harbour, and it meant that no one was safe until the attacker was identified, at the very least.

Blake gave a soft sigh. It wasn't just the fact that a lot of people were being poisoned. Cally had been attacked by a strange black ranger, and her morpher had been all but destroyed. It was quite possible that there could be other attacks by the dark ranger, especially if they were working for Lothor.

Blake suddenly heard a loud bang coming from downstairs. He didn't immediately worry about it, thinking that it was perhaps Hunter coming back in because he had forgotten something.

However, Blake thought that he should probably go down, in case Hunter needed any help. Besides, he could always go with his brother to Storm Chargers. Just so that he had _something_ to do.

Blake got off his bed, and made his way downstairs and into the living room, where he could hear someone moving around.

There was a black Power Ranger standing in the middle of the room. As Blake entered, the ranger turned round, raising gloved fists.

Blake dropped into a fighting stance.

* * *

_As far as Dustin was concerned, he and Tori were the only full beings around. He hadn't seen any others. It didn't really bother him, though. It was enough for just him and Tori to be there._

_Tori still seemed to be having problems adjusting to the transition, though. She had wanted to go and see the couple who had once been her parents. Dustin had agreed, hoping that the sight of them would be enough to 'shock' Tori into properly adjusting to what she was now._

_It had worked to a certain extent, but Tori was still having problems._

"_I don't understand how you can just accept this change so easily," the former blue wind ranger said with a frown. "Don't you care about the others? They were our friends, before."_

"_They're different," Dustin answered with a shrug. "We're not like them anymore. There's no reason for us to care."_

_Tori hesitated, and then sighed. "I suppose you're right," she admitted, her voice soft. "It feels… odd to watch them, knowing that they are only halves. But are we the only ones like this?"_

"_I'm pretty certain that we're not," Dustin replied, even though he had just been wondering the same thing. "The others are probably all in their own little groups. We're not the only ones."_

_Tori nodded slowly, and then sat down on the ground next to Dustin. The two former Power Rangers looked at each other for a moment, and then one of them moved, and their lips met._

* * *

"Hey, Hunter," Lila said as she walked into Storm Chargers behind Peter, who was apparently looking for some more equipment for his bike.

The crimson thunder ranger had been moving some boxes around, but he then walked over to Lila, having finished for the time being. "Hello," he replied.

"How's Blake?" Lila questioned.

"Sad," Hunter responded, shrugging slightly. "He misses Tori."

"Yeah… I think I can understand how he feels," Lila murmured, watching as Peter spoke briefly to Kelly.

Hunter gave Lila a slightly startled look, but then lowered his head slightly. He guessed that Lila was thinking of when he and Peter had been turned into vampires. It wasn't really the same, though. He and Peter hadn't been really close to death – only changed drastically.

"Hunter…" Lila began.

Hunter looked at the silver silk ranger. "What is it?" he wanted to know.

Lila bit her lip slightly, then, "You'll be careful… Won't you?"

"Sure," Hunter replied. He then jerked a bit as his communicator went off.

* * *

Read and review, please!

Erk… Sorry if it doesn't make much sense. I'll try to do better next time, promise!


	8. Chapter Eight

**Poison**

**Chapter Eight**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from Power Rangers, Ninja Storm, and I'm not making any money from this fic

**Replies to reviews:**

**Jorgitosbabe:** Well, here's the next chapter . Thanks for reviewing, and I'm glad you liked the last chapter

**CamFan4Ever:** Lol. Thanks for reviewing, and here's the next chapter

**garnetred:** You'll find out soon . I don't want to give too much away, but it's possible that there are some hints in this chapter. Anyways, thanks for reviewing, and I'm glad you liked it

**Author's Note:** I'm currently listening to 'I Don't Like Mondays' by the Boomtown Rats, so be prepared for some possible bad moments in this fic

* * *

"_Lia!" Cam ran after the neko, slightly surprised at how fast she could move. "Lia, wait! What's wrong? What's happened?"_

"_They're our enemies!" Lia called over her shoulder. Her foot suddenly caught on a tree root, and she stumbled and fell._

"_Are you all right?" Cam hurried over to try and help her up, glancing behind him as he did so. He was mildly surprised that he couldn't see anyone, or anything._

"_They haven't got here yet," Lia explained, almost as though she had just read the green samurai ranger's mind. "But most people can hear them, as long as they know just what they're listening _for_." She reached for Cam's hand to pull herself up, and then winced. "Ow… My ankle."_

_Cam looked worriedly at her. "You have to rest," he told her. "You can't run if your ankle's been hurt."_

_Lia shook her head. "I don't have a choice," she responded. "I _have_ to warn my people." She reached for Cam's hand again._

_Cam hesitated, and then his fingers touched hers, causing a sudden feeling that was almost like an electric shock._

_Cam jerked, and snatched his hand back. It hadn't _hurt_. It had just felt quite strange, and Cam had no idea what it was._

_Lia stared up at him. There was apparent confusion in her eyes, but whether it was because she had felt the shock as well, or whether she was surprised that Cam had pulled away from her, the green samurai ranger didn't know._

_Cam took a deep breath, and grabbed for Lia's hand again. He was faintly relieved when there was no shock that time._

_Cam pulled the neko to her feet, and slipped an arm around her shoulders in an attempt to support her._

"_We have to go quickly," Lia told him, her voice shaking a bit._

"_I know." Cam started moving towards the village as fast as he could while being hampered by a life-size neko._

_After what seemed like an age, but was probably really only a few minutes, Cam and Lia got to the village. Lia's father came out of his hut, his expression concerned. He apparently suspected that something was up._

"They're_ here," Lia said, pulling herself from Cam and limping over to her father. She sounded scared, but also somewhat resigned._

"You_ probably brought them here somehow," Riana spoke up. Cam hadn't realised that she was there until she had said that._

_Lia glared. "Why would _I_ do that?" she demanded._

_Before Riana could say anything to that, a group of lizard-like creatures started making their way into the village. They were carrying various weapons._

"_Lia, Riana, get out of here," Lia's father said. He sounded calm, apparently not noticing the hostility between them. Or, more likely, noticing it and not really caring about it._

"_No!" the two women exclaimed at the same time, and then glared at each other._

_Cam's eyes narrowed slightly, something suddenly occurring to him. He looked closely at Riana and Lia, thinking that they seemed somehow alike, even though they disliked each other._

"_No arguments," Lia's father ordered. He seemed about to say something else, but then jerked slightly as a loud bang was heard._

_Cam felt a sudden pain in his chest, and looked down to see blood blossoming on his green shirt. He looked up in time to see one of the lizard-like creatures calmly lowering a weapon that looked like a gun._

_Then, everything went black._

* * *

"What is it?" Hunter asked, speaking into his communicator.

"Bro, I'm being attacked." Blake sounded amazingly calm, though it could just as well have been that he was in shock. "I _was_ being attacked by a black ranger… However, there's now a snake…" The navy thunder ranger was cut off from whatever he was about to say.

"Blake!" Hunter yelled into his communicator, really not caring if anyone else heard him at that moment.

Peter had come over as soon as he had heard Hunter's morpher go off, and he exchanged worried glances with Lila.

Hunter saw the glances. "What!" he demanded.

"Nothing," Lila replied immediately. She didn't particularly want to bring up the suggestion that maybe Blake had been poisoned. Hunter looked mad enough already and she was already on thin ice with him as it was.

"I'm going to go and check on him!" Hunter snapped. He looked hard at Lila. "Are you coming or not?"

"Um, I guess so…?" Lila answered. She didn't particularly want to go, though. Hunter looked mad enough that he might end up hitting her again if she said the wrong thing to him.

Hunter looked into the silver silk ranger's eyes, and made some attempt to calm himself down, seeing the slight flash of nervousness there. He turned his gaze onto Peter. "You can come too." It was a statement more than a suggestion.

"Sure," Peter replied, after shooting another quick glance at his sister. "You may need some help if the snake's still there."

"I _really_ hope that it is," Hunter muttered, clenching his fists. He really wanted to fight. If nothing else, it would help to take his mind off everything that was going on.

"You're not taking off are you, Hunter?" Kelly asked, coming over with a frown. She gestured towards the customers in Storm Chargers. "I can't take care of all of these people by myself."

"Sorry, Kelly," Hunter responded. "Something's come up, and I _have_ to go. I'll make it up to you, though. I promise."

Peter looked from Kelly to Lila and back again. "I'll stay to help," he volunteered.

Lila stared at her brother, but was prevented from saying anything as Hunter was storming out of the shop, and she had to follow him.

* * *

Cam was sitting on his chair at his computer, apparently having fallen asleep there again. He was slumped back with his mouth open, breathing only slightly.

Sensei, however, was worried. He had already tried to wake Cam up, and the green samurai ranger hadn't so much as stirred, which was very unlike him. The guinea pig thought that perhaps his son was sleeping too deeply. He _had_ been looking tired quite lately, after all.

Still, Sensei was worried. If Cam was still asleep in a few hours, he knew that he would have to do something.

* * *

_Dustin and Tori were rather surprised to see a third person appear near them – it was Blake._

"_Blake, what are _you_ doing here?" Tori demanded. "Not that I'm not happy to see you," she added quickly. "But still…"_

_The navy thunder ranger had a confused look on his face, and was looking around, appearing to be somewhat distracted. "I don't know," he answered Tori's question. "One moment, I was attacked by a strange black snake. The next…" Blake shrugged, and indicated his form._

_Tori and Dustin exchanged glances. The same thing had happened to both of them, though they hadn't been thinking about it since they had given in to the change that had come over both of them._

"_I hope Hunter's all right," Blake said, biting his lip worriedly. He looked at Dustin and Tori. "Are we dead?" He didn't sound angry or upset, just resigned to his fate, whatever that was._

"_Actually, no," Tori replied. "We've… changed." The former blue wind ranger frowned slightly, trying to find the words to explain just what was happening, and then just shrugged. "Well, it's one of those things that you won't understand unless you've experienced it yourself."_

_Blake looked puzzled. "But… I don't feel any different," he protested. "I feel just like I've always felt… Apart from the fact that no one can see me, of course."_

"_Don't you feel like a part of your soul is trying to get free?" Dustin wanted to know. "Like it's tugging away from you?"_

_Blake frowned slightly. "Actually, now that you mention it, I _do_," he said slowly. He sounded a little scared._

"_Let it go," Tori advised. "You don't need it anymore."_

_Blake hesitated for a long moment, looking from Tori to Dustin and back again. Then, with a slight shrug, he closed his eyes._

* * *

Cally suddenly realised that someone was following her back from the hospital. She frowned slightly, and then turned around.

Cally's eyes widened as she saw the black ranger who had attacked her earlier, and took a stumbling step back. "What do you want?" she demanded.

"You know." The voice sounded hollow, but also strangely familiar. The black ranger's gloved hands slowly raised to unclasp his helmet and remove it.

Cally stared as the black ranger's identity was revealed.

"_Dustin_?"

* * *

Read and review, please!

Sorry if this seems a little rushed…


	9. Chapter Nine

**Poison**

**Chapter Nine**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from Power Rangers, Ninja Storm, and I'm not making any money from this fic

**Author's Note:** Sorry this chapter has taken me so long to write. I've been quite busy lately

**Replies to reviews:**

**CamFan4Ever:** Don't worry, it's not _that_ bad . Once again, I'm sorry that I didn't have the time to check your updated stories before. Thanks for reviewing, and I'm glad you liked the last chapter - I hope you like this one

**Jorgitosbabe:** Well, if you _had_ been expecting it, it wouldn't have been good . Thanks for reviewing, and I'm glad you liked it - here's the next chapter, finally

**garnetred:** You mean the lizard creatures? Otherwise, I'm kind of confused about what you mean by chameleon. Anyways, thanks for reviewing, and I hope you like this chapter.

* * *

Cam's eyes flew open, and he sat up straight in the chair he was sitting on. He glanced around at the inside of NinjaOps in confusion. What was he doing there? The last thing he remembered was being shot in the strange dream world.

"Cameron?"

Cam blinked several times, and glanced at the desk, next to the computer. His dad was sitting there, watching the green samurai ranger with what could only have been concern in his eyes. Of course, it was difficult to tell what he was thinking – guinea pigs didn't exactly have faces that could show expressions or emotions.

"Hi dad," Cam said with a tired smile. _I guess that settles it,_ he thought. Everything with Lia and Riana's world _had_ to be a dream. After all, he was back in NinjaOps, and was fine, as far as he knew. Of course, there _was_ that thing he had heard about how, if someone died in a dream, they actually died in real life… But he didn't know if that was true or not.

"You went extremely pale a little while before you woke up," Sensei commented. "I was rather worried."

"Well, I'm all right," Cam responded. He hesitated a moment, and then added, "It was just a… bad dream." He wasn't sure why, but he was reluctant to give any more details than that. Lia might have only been a dream, but he still wanted to keep her almost private… Besides, saying that he considered a dream creation a friend would just make him sound strange.

"I was just about to wake you up," Sensei continued after a brief flare of worry in his eyes. "Blake has succumbed to the strange illness as well."

Cam blinked. "Another power ranger?" He frowned. "That's three of us now… This isn't good." _There's _got_ to be a way of curing them,_ he thought. _They're not dead yet, at least as far as I know…_

For some reason, Cam couldn't shake what Lia's father had said to him about a great power. He knew that it had to have been a dream, but he couldn't stop wondering if it _had_ perhaps meant something.

"That would be an understatement," Sensei replied, his tone serious, perhaps even stern. "Cam, you need to do as much research on this as possible. If Lothor was to attack while we are this weakened…" The guinea pig slowly shook his head.

Cam nodded, realising the seriousness of what was going on. In some ways, this was even worse than the vampires. Sure, they had had the threat of Peter and Lila to deal with as well at that point, but they were losing members of the team extremely fast, as well as having a black ranger turn up who had put one of the other power rangers out of action by destroying her morpher.

Thinking of that, Cam glanced briefly towards the violet light ranger's morpher lying on the desk. He had been having trouble fixing it – whatever the black ranger had done to it had seriously damaged it, and Cam didn't know if he would be able to get it working again.

With a sigh, Cam turned his attention back to his computer to start doing research once again. He wasn't entirely sure where to start, but he thought that it might be a good idea to check records to see if there had been any other similar epidemics which had broken out in or around Blue Bay Harbour.

Cam heard someone enter NinjaOps behind him. He didn't turn round to see who it might be – they would be able to see that he was working, and hopefully realise that they were not to disturb him.

_Not that that's ever likely to happen,_ the green samurai ranger thought with a faint feeling of amusement.

Behind Cam, Hunter turned round to Lila, who was walking into NinjaOps after him. He closed his eyes for a brief moment, and then said with quite a strange tone, "I feel like a useless idiot."

Lila bit her lip slightly. She didn't know what to say. What could she say? How could she possibly make Hunter feel better? She knew how bad she would feel if anything happened to Peter, but she really didn't know what to say to Hunter. Did he even want her to respond?

Lila remained silent, at least for the moment. She could see that Cam was working on the computer, but he didn't seem to be listening to them, and, besides, Hunter didn't seem to have noticed him.

Hunter slammed his fist onto the table, just managing to avoid splintering the wood. He let out a growl of frustration.

Lila took a slight step back, worried. "Hunter, everyone's doing the best that they can," she said in a low voice. "The doctors, or even Cam, will be able to find a way to cure Blake and the others. There's nothing else we can do at the moment."

Hunter's eyes darkened, and he seemed to be about to say something else. However, he then whirled round and stalked over to Cam, appearing unsurprised at seeing the green samurai ranger there. "Have you found out anything yet?" he demanded.

"Not yet," Cam answered, refraining from mentioning the fact that he'd been asleep for some time. He was pretty certain that Hunter wouldn't be impressed by that.

"You haven't found out _anything_?" Hunter's expression showed disbelief.

"I'm currently searching through the records for anything similar that might have happened here," Cam responded. "And I can't work with you standing over my shoulder and brooding," the green samurai ranger added. "I understand your feelings, but I really can't concentrate with you continually looking over my shoulder."

Hunter looked just about ready to explode at someone, _anyone_. However, he simply turned on his heel, and stalked over to Lila. "I want to spar," he told her in a short tone. "Are you coming?"

Lila hesitated, but Cam had already made his opinion on having people in NinjaOps disturbing him known. She slowly nodded, and gave a bleak smile. "Sure, I'll come," she responded.

"Good." Hunter brushed past Lila, leaving NinjaOps.

The silver silk ranger glanced back over her shoulder at Cam a moment, before following the crimson thunder ranger outside and into the forest area. She had a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach, almost like there was a hand clamping her insides. Her throat felt dry, and her palms were clammy.

To her surprise, Lila realised that she was almost scared, as she followed Hunter to a small clearing where sparring matches were often held. Hunter was acting extremely dark and brooding, and she was almost certain that he wanted to spar to get rid of some of his frustrations, which wouldn't bode too well for his sparring partner – Lila, in this case.

Hunter stopped in the middle of the clearing, and turned to Lila, his back to a rather large evergreen tree. "Are you ready?" he asked, slipping into a fighting stance.

Lila pushed away the feeling of almost-fear, and nodded. She slipped into a fighting stance herself, and waited for Hunter to attack first.

The crimson thunder ranger did so, lashing out at Lila with a savage kick aimed at her ribs, and letting out a piercing yell.

Lila twisted to the side, nearly falling over her own feet, and aimed a punch at Hunter's chest.

Hunter dodged the punch, and caught Lila in the side with his foot. She stumbled back a few paces, and then hit Hunter in the shoulder. She followed it up with a kick aimed at his stomach, but the crimson thunder ranger caught her foot, and flipped her over.

Lila just managed to land on her feet, and had to duck to avoid a blow aimed at the side of her head. She was all for Hunter using a sparring match to get rid of his frustrations, but not if he was going to hurt her badly by doing so.

Hunter gave an angry shout, and grabbed Lila by the upper arms. He then gave her a violent shove backwards, causing her to slam into a tree.

Lila gasped at the pain in her back, but she knew that the accelerated healing that she had as a power ranger would ensure that she didn't receive any lasting damage. That wouldn't stop it hurting, though.

As Hunter came at Lila again, the silver silk ranger could see the darkness in his eyes. She rolled to the side to avoid a punch aimed at her shoulder, and hooked her foot behind Hunter's legs. Yanking forward, she managed to cause the crimson thunder ranger to fall, and she rolled out of the way so that he wouldn't land on top of her.

Hunter was quickly on his feet again, though. He made a grab for Lila's arm, and twisted it round slightly. Lila brought her foot up to kick him in the stomach, causing him to release her with a slight gasp.

However, Hunter recovered fast, and flipped over Lila's head. Before the silver silk ranger could turn around, he had her by the shoulders. Instead of fighting her further, however, he reached out to run his fingers lightly down her cheek.

Lila blinked in surprise, but found herself leaning into the caress, almost despite herself. Hunter slipped his other arm around her shoulders to pull her closer to him, and moved his hand down to tip Lila's head up by her chin, forcing the silver silk ranger to meet his gaze.

Then, Hunter's lips met Lila's in a hard, desperate kiss as he held her tightly against him in an almost crushing embrace.

* * *

Cally stared at the black ranger standing in front of her. Her brain refused to believe what her eyes were telling it. It simply wasn't possible. How could Dustin be standing in front of her? He was in hospital.

Yet, there it was. And, unless there was someone who looked exactly like Dustin and who was also a power ranger, it appeared that it _was_ Dustin standing in front of her.

However, the black ranger's eyes were filled with hatred, and Cally had no idea why. Dustin didn't hate her, did he? Then again, unless there was a different black ranger, it had apparently been Dustin who had destroyed her morpher and broken her arm, leaving her virtually powerless.

"Dustin?" Cally repeated, unable to say anything else.

The black ranger continued to stare at her. Finally, he spoke up: "I wish to destroy you." His voice sounded very strange. He definitely didn't sound like himself. His tone was flat.

Cally stared at Dustin, and then gestured towards her bandaged arm. "I am hardly in any position to fight you," she commented. "I'm already injured. If you have any honour at all, you won't try fighting me until I've fully recovered." She was actually trying to buy herself time. She didn't have any real hope of her argument succeeding, and the black ranger _had_ been able to defeat her the last time they had fought.

Dustin's eyes darkened, and a cruel smile played around his lips. "I didn't say I wanted to fight you," he replied. "I said that I wanted to destroy you."

_It's the same thing, surely,_ Cally thought. She was kind of worried that she could be going into shock. She was beginning to feel quite calm and almost detached. She wondered if her skin felt cold or clammy.

As though hearing her thoughts, Dustin continued, "I don't want to fight you. I want to make you suffer… Like you hurt me."

"But… you forgave me for that," Cally protested. He had, hadn't he? At least, he had been able to eventually, or so she had thought.

Dustin stepped forward to lightly touch Cally's hand, but there was no kindness in his touch or his eyes. Cally had the feeling that he was perfectly willing to seriously harm her. There seemed to be no trace of the Dustin that she knew and loved left.

Dustin smiled even wider, but he still looked cruel. "I'm going to make you suffer," he said in an almost sing-song voice. He raised a hand to run it almost gently through Cally's hair, his nails catching slightly on the strands.

Cally glanced around at the people passing by, but no one seemed to be paying any attention to her and Dustin. She blinked slightly, suddenly put in mind of the idea of a hologram she had read about once, a hologram which presented a perfectly normal image to people passing by.

Cally turned back to Dustin, and realised that the black ranger must have guessed something of what she was thinking. That was confirmed when he gave an almost gentle smile, and commented, "No one can see what's up. I could kill you, and no one would be any the wiser."

"Why don't you, then?" Cally asked, trying to sound brave. However, her voice shook slightly, which kind of ruined the effect.

Dustin just smiled again. "I told you," he responded. "I want you to suffer… Killing you would kind of defeat that object, wouldn't it?" After a moment, the black ranger leaned closer to Cally, and whispered in the violet light ranger's ear, "And I wouldn't tell anyone else about this if I was you. They won't be able to help you, and it would just end up hurting them as well."

With those words, Dustin stepped away from Cally, and walked off. A woman stopped and stared at Cally in surprise, but then shook her head slightly and continued walking on.

Cally watched Dustin leave, trembling slightly, with anger as well as fear.

* * *

_Lia stood over Cam's still body, looking down at him, her eyes dark. She started to reach out to touch him, but then hesitated, glancing towards her father. "Is he going to be all right?" she asked._

_Lia's father had been tending to Cam's wound, and he now looked up at his daughter, his expression grave. "I don't know," he replied. "By rights, with a wound as severe as that, he should be dead… But, for some reason, he is still alive. He just seems to be… somewhere else."_

_Lia didn't understand what her father was talking about, but she was extremely worried about Cam. Her village had managed to drive the lizard creatures away after he had been shot, and the Elder Woman was very concerned about what was going on._

_Riana had walked off not long ago, apparently not very interested in staying and keeping an eye on Cam. She never was. She always lost interest in things very easily._

_Lia's father stood up with a soft sigh, and then turned to Lia. "Can you keep an eye on him?" he asked. "I really should go and talk with the Elder Woman."_

_Lia nodded slowly, and then pulled a stool over to the bed Cam was lying on. She carefully sat down, reaching to take the other's hand in hers._

_Lia's father patted his daughter gently on the shoulder, before quietly leaving the hut._

_Lia didn't watch him leave. Instead, she kept her eyes fixed on Cam's face. She was worried about him. He had been acting strangely for a while. If she didn't know better, she would have sworn that he couldn't actually remember her. Certainly, he hadn't been _acting_ like they were promised to each other. He had kissed Riana, after all. Or, maybe she had kissed him… But he had definitely responded._

_Lia sighed, and ran a hand through her hair, pushing it out of her eyes. To make things even worse, she had the feeling that her father and the Elder Woman were keeping things from her. Ordinarily, she wouldn't question either of them, trusting them to know what was best, but this was different._

_Lia smoothed Cam's dark hair away from his face. His glasses had fallen off when he had collapsed, and those had been placed carefully some distance away. After all, there was no point in him having them on if he was unconscious._

_Lia's fingertips brushed lightly over Cam's skin. She stared at his closed eyes, willing them to open. She wanted Cam to be all right. He _had_ to live._

But what if that means that he has to leave?

_Lia's head jerked up at the strange thought that had just entered her mind. She didn't know where it had come from, but something told her that it wasn't just the wonderings of an idle mind. There was probably a lot of truth to it._

_Lia stared hard at Cam's still form, feeling a sudden calmness descend upon her. She felt serene, her mind suddenly clear._

If that is what it takes for him to be all right,_ Lia thought. _If he has to leave me… then so be it.

_And Cam's hand flexed slightly in Lia's, almost as though he had somehow heard her thoughts._

* * *

Faye sat curled up in one of the armchairs in the house she shared with Cally and David. She had the television on, but it couldn't be said that she was watching it – she was just flicking through the channels.

The orange light ranger was extremely worried. Someone, or some_thing_, was picking off the power rangers one by one, and it would be so easy for them to be defeated without the full teams. Lothor had been ominously quiet lately, and Faye had to wonder just what it meant. What with the other rangers falling ill, and the strange black ranger that was around, everything was getting harder.

Faye brushed her fingertips lightly against the morpher strapped to her wrist. She was almost amazed at the technology that had to be contained in something so small, to allow them to change to their ranger forms. Not that she really knew anything about technology. When she and Cam had been observing what was going on with Cally when the violet light ranger had been in a coma, the green samurai ranger had done most of the computer work.

Faye closed her eyes, rolling her shoulders slightly for a moment. She felt almost tense, and was certainly stressed out. She couldn't remember the last time she had slept for a whole night. She was actually considering taking sleeping pills so that she would be able to stay asleep, and not feel so tired the next day.

Faye leaned back against the chair as she began to space out. Her mind started to drift as she felt sleep begin to overtake her.

Suddenly, there was a ringing sound.

Faye jerked, and sat bolt upright. For a moment, she felt kind of disorientated. Then, she realised that the ringing sound was the phone. She gave a soft sigh, and reached out to pick the phone up and place it to her ear. "Hello?"

"Hi, Faye. It's me." It was Cally's voice on the phone.

Faye closed her eyes for a moment, fighting the urge to tell Cally to ring back later. Sometimes, it was kind of hard to be sensitive towards her friends' needs, and to just be there for them to talk to when they needed someone to listen.

"Hi, Cally," Faye responded. "Is anything wrong?" She curled up in the armchair again, and stifled a yawn.

There was a moment's hesitation, and then Cally answered, "No, there isn't anything wrong."

Faye wasn't sure what, but something in Cally's voice alerted her to the fact that there _was_ something wrong. Their friendship was too strong for Cally to try and hide it when there was a problem.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Faye asked, deciding to ignore the reply Cally had given her.

Cally said nothing for a few seconds, and then said slowly, "There isn't anything wrong, Faye."

"Uh-uh, sure," Faye responded. "If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine… But please don't lie to me."

"It's just to do with Dustin." Cally sounded reluctant, and she didn't give any more details than that.

Faye thought that she knew what was wrong, though. "Cally, I'm sure that Dustin's going to be all right," she said. "The doctors are doing all that they can, and Cam's looking as well. He's going to be fine. Please don't worry."

"Yeah…" Cally said slowly. "I'll… Well, I'll go now." She didn't sound very happy, though.

"All right," Faye replied. "Cal? If you need to talk, you know that I'm always here for you, right?"

"Yeah, I know…" Cally responded slowly. "Thank you." Then, she hung up.

Faye stared at the phone a moment, and then blinked as she heard a thump come from upstairs. Was David in?

Faye went to look.

* * *

Read and review, please!

Not sure how the scene with Hunter and Lila turned out, so can people please tell me what they think?


	10. Chapter Ten

**Poison**

**Chapter Ten**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from Power Rangers, Ninja Storm, and I'm not making any money from this fic

**Replies to reviews:**

**the real vampire:** Well, I can't really give anything away - that wouldn't be fair. You'll have to read further if you want to find out . Anyways, thanks for reviewing, and I'm glad you liked it

**garnetred:** It's possible... But I'm not gonna say either way . And you might be a little disappointed with Hunter and Lila - sorry. In any case, thanks for reviewing, and I'm glad you liked it

**CamFan4Ever:** Here's the update . And, yeah, you'll find out about what happened with Hunter and Lila here... Thanks for reviewing, and I'm glad you liked it

* * *

Cally stared at her phone after she had said goodbye to Faye, trembling slightly. Her friend hadn't really helped her at all, but then, who would be able to? This wasn't really something that anyone else could help her with.

People just kept on walking past Cally, brushing past her, some jostling her. No one stopped to ask if she was all right, but then, why would they? It wasn't like she was _trying_ to draw attention to herself.

_What could be up with Dustin?_ Cally wondered. More importantly… _Has Dustin regained consciousness? Well, he _must_ have…After all, he just came and spoke to me. There's no way he could have just done something like spirit travelled, if that sort of thing is even true, which I doubt._

It might have been strange for Cally, who happened to be a Power Ranger, not to believe in something like the ability to send one's spirit outside of their body. However, Cally actually _knew_ what being a Power Ranger was like… She found it hard to imagine spirit travelling as being possible. She couldn't even _begin_ to guess at how it would be able to work.

Despite her feelings about the impossibility of spirit travelling, though, Cally found her feet moving again. After a few moments, she realised that she was making her way in the direction of the hospital. She tried to tell herself that it was merely in order to put her fears to rest. However, she couldn't stop herself from wondering, wondering just a little…

What if Dustin _was_ still in the hospital?

* * *

David knew instinctively that something was wrong as soon as he walked into the house. He didn't know how.

Closing the front door behind him, David tilted his head slightly as he heard the sound of the television in the living room. Blinking a bit, he walked there, and frowned slightly as he couldn't see anyone in the room.

It wasn't likely for either Faye _or_ Cally to walk out of the living room and leave the television on. Unless, of course, they were using the toilet, which was probably where whoever was in the house was.

For some reason, David had the feeling that something had happened. Aside from the television, it was way too quiet. In fact, David wouldn't have been surprised if a masked man appeared with a knife.

After a moment's hesitation, David made his way up the stairs. _And this adds to the whole 'being stuck in a bad horror movie' theory,_ he thought. He didn't leave, though – he just continued walking up the stairs.

Faye was lying on the landing, her arms splayed out, and her eyes closed. David pushed away the slight feeling of panic that threatened to overwhelm him, and knelt beside her to check her pulse.

Thankfully, Faye was still breathing. Unconscious, but still breathing.

David took a few deep breaths in order to calm himself, and straightened up. "Cam?" he said into his communicator.

After a moment, the reply came: "What is it?"

David closed his eyes for a moment. "I think that she's been attacked by whatever's been infecting everyone else," he answered. "Where's everyone else? I'm worried that it might have gone after someone else."

"Hunter and Lila went off to spar," Cam explained after a moment. "Shane's off skateboarding somewhere… I don't know where Peter and Cally are."

David frowned. "I could probably get hold of Cally," he commented. "I don't know about Peter… Can you get here?"

"It might be better to get Faye to the hospital," Cam responded. "Until I can figure out what's wrong with everyone, there's not a lot I can do."

"Ok," David said with a sigh. He supposed that Cam was right, but it _was_ rather frustrating not being able to do anything for Faye. And he hoped that Cally was all right… He couldn't stand it if anything happened to _both_ of them. As it was, he was having enough trouble coming to terms with what had happened to Faye.

_Right… Hospital,_ David thought. He didn't know if he was supposed to move Faye or not. Was that only people who had fallen?

_I'll wait until after I've talked to the hospital,_ David decided. _They'll be able to tell me what I should do… Right?_

"Er… Stay here," David said to Faye's limp form, despite the fact that she wouldn't have been able to hear him. He then ran down the stairs and into the living room, where he grabbed the phone, held it to his ear, and dialled the number of the nearest hospital from memory.

"Hello, New Hope Hospital, how can we help?" a cheery woman's voice asked.

"Um, hey," David said. "I'm David. My girlfriend Faye has come down with that… disease that's been going around. What should I do?"

"Can you get her to us, or do you need an ambulance?" the woman asked. She sounded calm and straightforward, and David could feel his slight sense of panic receding. At least _someone_ seemed to know what to do.

"I think so," David replied. "It's all right to move her, isn't it?"

"Where did she fall?" the woman asked.

"On the landing," David answered. "I mean, she didn't fall down them or anything… Just collapsed on the landing."

"All right, well, as long as you can't see any injuries, it's all right to bring her in," the woman told David. "If you have any problems, you'd better call back."

"Yes, all right, thank you," David responded. "Goodbye." He put the phone down, and started to go back to the stairs, but then hesitated. Picking up the phone again, he dialled Cally's mobile number.

It rang a few times, and then his sister answered: "Hello, Cally speaking."

"Cal, it's me, David," David said quickly into the phone.

"David, what's wrong?" Cally demanded. She sounded a little alarmed. "Why are you calling? Is everything all right?"

"No…" David answered slowly. "It's Faye. She's become… infected."

"_What_!" Cally yelped. "What happened!"

"I'm not sure," David admitted. "I only just got in, and Faye was already like that when I arrived. I'm taking her to New Hope Hospital. I'll talk to you later. Bye." With that, he disconnected the call, and quickly made his way back up the stairs to take Faye to the hospital.

* * *

Hunter slowly pulled back from Lila, his hands falling away from her shoulders.

The silver silk ranger opened her eyes to watch Hunter, feeling her heart flutter a little in her chest. She didn't even notice the fact that she was trembling, but a part of her _did_ note that there were little shivers, almost like cold fingers, running up and down her back. This whole thing would have been pretty much perfect, had it not been for one very small detail.

The look on Hunter's face.

The crimson thunder ranger looked a bit dazed. However, there was also a look on his face that seemed to be one of regret, and Lila somehow got the feeling that he felt that he had made a mistake.

The silver silk ranger braced herself, either for Hunter to start yelling at her, or for him to try and tell her _nicely_ that he didn't want this.

"Lila… That was a mistake…" Hunter said slowly. "I'm sorry; I don't want you to get the wrong idea…"

"Oh, sure, I understand," Lila responded. "After all, it's not like you can just… forget what I did." Try as she might, the silver silk ranger couldn't keep the bitterness out of her voice.

"It's not just that," Hunter admitted. "It's that… I feel like I shouldn't be doing this, not with my brother lying in hospital. Not with everything that's been going on. What right do I have to have any form of happiness while my friends are in hospital, maybe in pain, maybe dying?"

Lila bit her lip slightly. "Hunter… I said that I'd give you all the time you needed," she reminded him. "But… I'm not sure that I can do that. I've been trying, but I can't just keep waiting for you. I'm sorry… But I don't think that I can do this…"

Hunter looked at Lila for a long moment, then, "You do whatever you have to do, Lila… I won't ask you not to. But I'm sorry… I can't give you what you want. Not yet, at least…"

"Fine," Lila replied, despite the sinking feeling she had deep in the pit of her stomach. "Maybe I'll just go and date someone else." With those words, she streaked off.

Hunter watched her go, the pain stabbing through him like a knife. He cared about Lila, of course, and he felt bad about hurting her.

But he didn't know if he could allow himself to actually love her.

* * *

Cally walked quickly into the hospital room that Faye had been admitted to, feeling worried and almost frightened. What was she going to do if Faye died? The orange light ranger had always been by her side. Cally had never really given how much she relied on her friend much thought before.

David was sitting by Faye's bed, holding her hand in both of his. He glanced up as Cally entered, and gave her a tired smile. "Hey," he said softly.

"How is she?" Cally asked quietly, sitting down in the other chair next to the bed.

"The same as the others," David answered with a soft sigh. "_Exactly_ the same… Cal, I don't know what I can do."

"Just have to wait for Cam to get it sorted out, I suppose," Cally said. "I mean, he _is_ doing his best."

"I guess," David sighed. "I'm just so worried, you know?"

Cally nodded slowly. "I get it," she replied. "If you want to go and get something to eat or do something else, I'll keep an eye on her, if you want."

"I might just go and get a drink," David said after a moment. "Let me know if anything changes."

"Sure," Cally responded.

The white light ranger nodded, and then stood up. He glanced towards Faye a moment, and then left.

Cally sat there, her eyes narrowed. _This_ was the last thing she could cope with. First Dustin, and now Faye…

_That's it, I'm gonna have to do what I planned,_ Cally thought. She didn't really have any other choice.

* * *

Review, please! 


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